Outsourcing Federal Healthcare

Early in their existence, many businesses handle their activities internally. As businesses mature and grow, they often find competitive advantage in the specialization provided by outside firms. This trend is particularly frequent in industries such as information technology (IT) and healthcare.

The U.S. federal government delivers healthcare through its two main insurance programs: Medicare and Medicaid. In these programs, private healthcare providers are reimbursed by government insurers for health services delivered to insured citizens.

• Visit the Web sites of Medicare and Medicaid programs for more information about them.
• Review the article, “Outsourcing: Assessing the Risks and Benefits for Organizations, Sectors, and Nations” by Harland, Knight, Lamming, and Walker (2005). The conceptual framework in this article shows how corporate strategy is influenced by regulation under the decision node of policy issues (p. 844).

Based on your analysis of the article and the Web sites, address the following:   

• Identify the main stakeholders in the US federal healthcare system. In your view, what are their respective goals, wants, and needs with regard to public health?
• Analyze the current status faced by the federal government in terms of the strategy being used in its healthcare system.

Identify strengths and weaknesses of the strategy as well as opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) present in the external environment.Propose a new policy to be implemented for optimizing the use of outsourcing in healthcare services to private hospitals and healthcare practices in order to provide medical services to the bulk of the US population. This policy should include the following objectives:Lowering costs of the program to reduce federal spendingProviding highest quality treatment for the insuredProviding consumer-oriented choiceLowering treatment costs for consumers

• Based on your proposal of a new policy, describe the benefits for at least one stakeholder group you identified in the first question. Discuss how your outsourcing strategy objectives satisfy the wants and needs of the specific stakeholder(s).
• Explain the likely outcomes of the outsourcing policy you recommended. Which stakeholder group benefits the most and which benefits the least? What are the strategic tradeoffs implied by your outsourcing recommendation?

Write a 3–4-page paper in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M2_A2 .

By Saturday, March 16, 2013, deliver your assignment to the M2: Assignment 2 Dropbox.

Harland, C., Knight, L., Lamming, R., & Walker, H. (2005). Outsourcing: Assessing the risks and benefits for organizations, sectors, and nations. International Journal of Operations & Production Management , 25 (9/10), 831–850. (ProQuest Document ID: 232337858)  http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/ 232337858?accountid=34899

2

Assignment 2: Outsourcing Federal Healthcare

Early in their existence, many businesses handle their activities internally. As businesses mature and grow, they often find competitive advantage in the specialization provided by outside firms. This trend is particularly frequent in industries such as information technology (IT) and healthcare.

The U.S. federal government delivers healthcare through its two main insurance programs: Medicare and Medicaid. In these programs, private healthcare providers are reimbursed by government insurers for health services delivered to insured citizens.

· Visit the Web sites of Medicare and Medicaid programs for more information about them.

· Review the article, “Outsourcing: Assessing the Risks and Benefits for Organizations, Sectors, and Nations” by Harland, Knight, Lamming, and Walker (

20

05). The conceptual framework in this article shows how corporate strategy is influenced by regulation under the decision node of policy issues (p.

8

44).

Based on your analysis of the article and the Web sites, address the following:   

· Identify the main stakeholders in the US federal healthcare system. In your view, what are their respective goals, wants, and needs with regard to public health?

· Analyze the current status faced by the federal government in terms of the strategy being used in its healthcare system.

· Identify strengths and weaknesses of the strategy as well as opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) present in the external environment.

· Propose a new policy to be implemented for optimizing the use of outsourcing in healthcare services to private hospitals and healthcare practices in order to provide medical services to the bulk of the US population. This policy should include the following objectives:

· Lowering costs of the program to reduce federal spending

· Providing highest quality treatment for the insured

· Providing consumer-oriented choice

· Lowering treatment costs for consumers

· Based on your proposal of a new policy, describe the benefits for at least one stakeholder group you identified in the first question. Discuss how your outsourcing strategy objectives satisfy the wants and needs of the specific stakeholder(s).

· Explain the likely outcomes of the outsourcing policy you recommended. Which stakeholder group benefits the most and which benefits the least? What are the strategic tradeoffs implied by your outsourcing recommendation?

Write a 3–4-page paper in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M2_A2 .

By Saturday, March 16, 2013, deliver your assignment to the M2: Assignment 2 Dropbox.

Harland, C., Knight, L., Lamming, R., & Walker, H. (2005). Outsourcing: Assessing the risks and benefits for organizations, sectors, and nations. International Journal of Operations & Production Management , 25 (9/10), 831–850. (ProQuest Document ID: 232337858) 

http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/
232337858?accountid=34899

12

Assignment 2 Grading Criteria	Maximum Points
Identified the main stakeholders in the US federal healthcare system and described their respective goals, wants, and needs with regard to the public healthcare system according to a personal evaluation.	20
Analyzed the current status of the healthcare provided by the US government and proposed a new relevant policy to be implemented for optimizing the use of outsourcing in healthcare services to private hospitals and healthcare practices in order to provide medical services to the bulk of the US population.	28
In using the policy proposed, described the benefits for at least one stakeholder group identified in the first question.		12
Explained the likely outcomes of the outsourcing policy recommended, including the impact on different stakeholder groups as well as possible tradeoffs in implementing it.
Wrote in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrated ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and displayed accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.	8
Total:	80

Module 3 Overview

This module introduces you to the critical operational components of excellence. Efficiency, quality, and resource management under the umbrella of the corporate strategy contribute to operational excellence. You will explore the fundamental drivers and measurements of operational excellence.

Even the most superior strategy is useless if the organization does not have the capability to implement it and create strategic fit. Similarly, the best product in the world is valueless to a customer if it is not available when it is needed. For corporate customers, a lack of availability often means an increase in costs and business risk. To prevent these issues, a company must develop operational excellence which includes the precise management of production capacity and capacity planning, design and implementation of inventory controls that balance cost and availability, and the configuration of logistics necessary to distribute product or services on schedule.

Effectively managing the sequence of activities in the supply chain depends on many factors, but perhaps the single most influential factor in operations management is meeting the quality standards of the company and its many stakeholders. Quality problems destroy value in the supply chain by disrupting the sequence of interdependent activities, threatening availability, and increasing costs.

In the first assignment of this module, you will discuss the vertical integration and planning approach adopted by General Electric (GE). The second assignment is LASA 1, for which you will review an organization’s analysis report and write a report on how the organization’s aspects such as marketing, performance measures, and value chain have helped it to provide values-based services to its customers.

· Configure an organization’s processes to effectively and efficiently produce goods and services that enable its value proposition and maintain competitive differentiation.

· Create an operations strategy that aligns with the mission, values, and business strategy of the organization.

· Synthesize operating data to explain operating performance and diagnose performance issues, and selectively apply quantitative tools for improving operating process performance through enhancements of quality, speed, efficiency, or productivity.

·

Evaluate the ethical and/or global consequences of an operating plan.