Journal of health and human services administration
-
J Health Hum Serv Adm · Jan 2014
Linkages between organization climate and work outcomes: perceptual differences among health service professionals as a function of customer contact intensity.
The delivery of high-quality service, rendered by health service professionals who interact with customers (patients), increases the likelihood that customers will form positive evaluations of the quality of their service encounters as well as high levels of customer satisfaction. Using linkage theory to develop our conceptual framework, we identify four clusters of variables which contribute to a chain of sequential events that connect organization climate to personal and operational work outcomes. We then examine the perceptual differences of service professionals, grouped by intensity of customer contact, with respect to these variables. ⋯ Health service professionals are important resources because of their specialized knowledge, labor expense, and scarcity. Based on findings from our research, managers are advised to survey employees' perceptions of their organizational environment and design practices that respond to the unique viewpoints of each of the professional groups identified in this study. Such tailoring should help executives maximize the value of investments in human resources by underwriting patient satisfaction and financial sustainability.
-
Nationwide from 1996 to 2004, the overall proportion of Emergency Department (ED) reimbursement ratios for outpatient ED visits decreased from 57% to 42%. The continued falling of ED reimbursement ratios, which is the share of ED charges that are ultimately paid, is an indicator of the financial pressures facing the ED. Once the healthcare reforms are put in place what will the impact be on reimbursement rates of overburdened and underfunded emergency departments. ⋯ Who pays for the ED services does impact the ED's bottom line. The privately funded patients will provide an ED with a higher reimbursement ratio per year as compared to those patients who are publicly or self pay. This explains why EDs that provide care for 40% or more publicly or self pay patients have seen a decline in reimbursement ratios. Healthcare reform has the potential to change and possibly improve safety net ED rate of reimbursement depending on how private, public and self pay patients pay for ED services.
-
J Health Hum Serv Adm · Jan 2013
Assessment of pandemic preparedness in a socially vulnerable community in south Texas.
The purpose of this research was to obtain information about general and pandemic preparedness efforts of residents within San Patricio County in South Texas, as well as to identify the most effective means of communicating the risks posed by pandemic influenza. The population of San Patricio County is socially vulnerable to a variety of disasters, including influenza pandemics due to the unique demographic profile of the county as well as its location on the Gulf Coast. The goals of this study were to help with pandemic planning efforts and to provide recommendations that could serve as a foundation for building more resilient communities within San Patricio County. Clearly the various governmental levels must work together to assist communities prepare for pandemic preparedness but broad, inclusive community participation is also necessary to strengthen community resilience.
-
J Health Hum Serv Adm · Jan 2009
Structural relationships between work environment and service quality perceptions as a function of customer contact intensity: implications for human service strategy.
This study assesses the importance of customer-contact intensity at the service encounter level as a determinant of service quality assessments. Using data from the U. ⋯ However, there existed significant differences across service delivery settings in the salience of customer orientation and the congruence between employee and customer perceptions of service quality, depending on the intensity of customer contact. In both contexts, managerial attention to high-performance work systems and customer-orientation has the potential to favorably impact perceptions of service quality, amplify consumer satisfaction, and enhance operational efficiency.
-
J Health Hum Serv Adm · Jan 2008
Mental health services availability and admission of the seriously mentally ill from the emergency department.
This study used a cross-sectional, multiple logistic regression design to examine the relationship between mental health service availability and the admission of 111,527 seriously mentally ill (SMI) patients from the emergency department (ED) in New York State in 2002. The study found that SMI patients were admitted from the ED in counties that were mental health professional shortage areas and in counties with less long-term inpatient psychiatric days. Contrary to expectations, counties with community mental health centers (CMHCs) had more admissions than counties without CMHCs. The results support prior research that indicates the need for more specialized mental health services for the SMI, including more psychiatric beds.