Organizational Development in Health Care: Theory and Application 3

Organizational Development in Health Care
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Organizational Development in Health Care
It has been said that change is one of the most constant things in any organization. Increasing the performance of all the resources is a primary goal in many medical facilities. Organizational development deals with the various techniques and processes of managing organizational change and performance efficiently (Boss, 1989).
Healthcare organizations are unique in that they provide essential humanitarian services while still aiming at profits. The dynamics of the healthcare industry change relatively fast just as in other sectors. With that said, firms in the industry are using organizational development strategies to boost efficiency and performance (Cummings & Worley, 2014). This theory has various concepts. One might wonder whether the ideas in organizational development theory are applied in the modern healthcare facilities. Some of these thoughts are discussed below.
Organizational identity; organizational development theory recommends that each organization should have a unique identity that distinguishes it from other players in the sector. This can come in the form of the organization structure or by having a set of values, vision, and mission (Boss, 1989). The implementation of this concept has been slow in the most healthcare organizations. Though it can be said that some have passed on values to the employees by defining a code of ethics, most visions and missions are nothing but mere declarations.

Organizational culture; this defines the set of procedures and policies in an organization. It can also incorporate the acceptable behaviors and norms. Modern healthcare facilities have defined their culture. They have established what cannot be tolerated within the institutions. They have also shifted focus to providing higher customer satisfaction (Boss, 1989).
Communication and engagement of stakeholders; organizational development holds that for the performance of an organization to improve, there must be a clear communication strategy and procedure (Cummings & Worley, 2014). All stakeholders must also be involved in decision making. There has been a mixed application of this approach. Though employees are often engaged in decision making, customers are rarely consulted.
Talent development; Organizations are encouraged to continuously identify and develop talent in their workforce (Cummings & Worley, 2014). This has been applied by training employees on various skills such as teamwork and communication. Most institutions hold regular training seminars.
Organizational development theory is a field of study that has workable strategies. Healthcare organizations can adopt the ideas to increase their performance. These institutions should give more attention to organizational development.
References
Boss, R. W. (1989). Organization development in health care. Addison-Wesley Longman.
Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2014). Organization development and change. Cengage Learning.