Healthcare Decision Making, Leadership Styles, And Conflict Resolution Models

Healthcare Decision Making

Health care is the act of restoring of healthby giving medication for treatment or prevention of disease especially by trained physicians. Decision making is the process of making choices by identifying a problem, collecting relevant information from various sources and assessing the set alternative. When decision-making process is followed step by step helps one make more right and useful decisions by organizing the collected information and sorting out the alternatives. Health care decision making may be patient centered or provider centered. Making decisions about health care can seem irresistible at times hence much attention need to be paid to without delay. Steps followed in making decision in health care are;

First state the problem-In this stage one has to clearly identify the problem. When the problem is well understood then one can now go ahead to make the necessary decision. Incase incorrect problem is identified, wrong decision would be made too(Elwyn, Edwards, Kinnersley&Grol, 2000). A physician should be very keen. If they make a mistake from the start all will end up being a mess. They may administer the wrong medication which can lead to a worse situation or else death. Secondly, gather relevant information-The health care physicians should have the required information about what is being considered and about the expected results of different choices. One also want to find out whether the illness is curable or else inherited.  (Charles, Gafni, & Whelan, 1999). For one to make a useful decision, one should collect the necessary information that is related to the identified problem. Adhering to this step keenly, assists one in having a better understanding of what should be done in order to solve the problem.it also assists one get the right ideas for the potential results. Thirdly, determine the goals-By use of the already collected information one can start to explore the choices about tests to be undertaken at the laboratory, treatments to be administered, and other health care considerations(Laxmisan,Hakimzada, Sayan, Green, Zhang, & Patel, 2007). This investigation should be guided by the results that you are expecting to get at the end of the test. One thinks about the many alternatives would expect then make a list of them and take the various tests in order to come into better results.

Consider the Consequences-This step helps one to determine to what extend the side effects would affect or impact both the patient and other people involved. In this step, one would consider if the decision taken would affect them positively or negatively now and in future(Atthowe Jr, 1960.) This step is crucial because it enables one to assess the positive effect and side effects of the different options that you had listed in the alternatives to opt for if the first test doesn’t work. It is also important because it helps one feel satisfied with all the options and the possible outcome of whichever alternative is tested. Make Decision or take action-Action is taken in this step. After identifying the problem of the patient, collected all the required information and considered the possible consequences then one can go ahead and make the appropriate decision(Jones, 1991). One can now do away with the alternatives that do not fit. Here the parties involved are anxiously waiting to hear from the physician attending to the patient. They hope for the best. Although one may still be doubting or unsure about the final decision, more so if dealing with life to death incidence you have to take into account how this makes one feel. For example, if a patient is brought to the hospital in a critical condition then after a short time of medication he/she passes away, the physician would find it hard to freely deliver the sad news to the family members. The patients celebrate to receive the right treatment and the physician is happy too about his good work.

Steps in Healthcare Decision Making

Evaluate the Decision-A decision may be of no benefit until it is put into practice. One has to make sure that you follow up to be well informed about the well-being of the patient at hand. This is to ensure that the illness is getting better and the medicines given are of help and no extreme side effect experienced. Prepare a list of the required steps to put the decision into action, start your observation step by step (Gafni, Charles & Whelan, 1998). It may take some time to see the final results. Due to this one can decide to terminate the decision before the final step only if no positive change is experienced. This step really requires the patient, family members and also the physician to be patient and also encourages perseverance because the final result may require quite some time to be accomplished.

Different people use different Leadership styles while heading an organisation. These differences among individuals may cause conflict in the work environment if not well monitored(Lewicki, Weiss & Lewin, 1992). An employee’s method of completing task given or goals may lead to conflict. For example, one can be discouraged if their partner delays in performing the task assigned to them while you are eager to get the work done at the right. This can create conflict between the two parties. In the case study of the home health, Louis, invents new ideas, process and policy in order to improve the standards of the company. Majority of the managers follow the protocol while a few don’t. There is a disagreement amongst the managers because some of them ignores the new ideas and policy given to them and instead instructs their employees to continue charting as they were doing in the past while others are willing to follow the new policy and find it confusing if they chart using the past technic. The few managers who don’t accept changes, even don’t respect the director. Instead of solving the problem at the director’s level, they draft a list of reasons as to why they oppose the new strategy and forward it direct to the company owners putting the company in a bind.

The company would use the rational decision making model. This is because in rational, individuals use investigation, facts and orderly process to come to final decision. This model of making decision is an accurate and systematic process which is preferred by different organisations to generate their resolutions (Tinsley, 1998). For instance, in the case study, if they applied this model and find the first trial not achieving the goal, they would look for an alternative until the problem is solved well without misunderstanding one another.

Negotiation model is one of the methods used while resolving conflicts. During negotiation, healthcare physicians should be honest when communicating and giving their views, altering their differences to eventually reach an agreement. Negotiation works when the victims give their targeted goals and needs planning to achieve at a particular time. Individuals can then adapt their needs and wants so that the common goal can be achieved. In this case study the managers together with the director would use negotiation model to solve their problem. Once the managers would come into agreement in their differences of either using the old process or the new one, they would work in harmony.

References

Elwyn, G., Edwards, A., Kinnersley, P., &Grol, R. (2000). Shared decision making and the concept of equipoise: the competences of involving patients in healthcare choices. Br J Gen Pract, 50(460), 892-899.

Charles, C., Gafni, A., & Whelan, T. (1999). Decision-making in the physician–patient encounter: revisiting the shared treatment decision-making model. Social science & medicine, 49(5), 651-661.

Laxmisan, A., Hakimzada, F., Sayan, O. R., Green, R. A., Zhang, J., & Patel, V. L. (2007). The multitasking clinician: decision-making and cognitive demand during and after team handoffs in emergency care. International journal of medical informatics, 76(11-12), 801-811.

Atthowe Jr, J. M. (1960). Types of conflict and their resolution: A reinterpretation. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59(1), 1.

Jones, T. M. (1991). Ethical decision making by individuals in organizations: An issue-contingent model. Academy of management review, 16(2), 366-395.

Gafni, A., Charles, C., & Whelan, T. (1998). The physician–patient encounter: the physician as a perfect agent for the patient versus the informed treatment decision-making model. Social science & medicine, 47(3), 347-35

Lewicki, R. J., Weiss, S. E., & Lewin, D. (1992). Models of conflict, negotiation and third party intervention: A review and synthesis. Journal of organizational behavior, 13(3), 209-252.

Tinsley, C. (1998). Models of conflict resolution in Japanese, German, and American cultures. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(2), 316.