Introduction
Service-line management is used to discover professional clinical areas and how to manage the areas as discrete operational units. It gives the NHS foundation trusts to comprehend their performance and order their services in such a manner that patients get to benefit and deliver efficiency for the trusts. Service-line management also offers a framework within which clinicians can go ahead on the service development and hence improve patients.
It is important to mention that service line management was established by Monitor for NHS foundation trusts. However, the principles set out in it are still equally applicable to other settings that mirror NHS. It draws on substantiation and best practices from the United Kingdom pilot sites and also the experience of those who provide healthcare by using the same principles within their systems of healthcare.
Service line management is commenced by service line reporting; in this case, the service lines are considered to be the units from which the services of the trusts get to be delivered. Each line has its focus on a specific medical situation or process and its professional clinician (Buchbinder and Thompson 24). Each line must also have its well-recognized resources; this entails support services, financial resources, and staff members.
The Needs for Service-Line Management in the Healthcare Sector of the United States
Service line management utilizes the data received from service line reporting in developing the structure of an organization and management structure within which the healthcare managers and clinicians can plan service activities, establish the objectives of the organization, and effectively monitor financial and functional activities of the services offered within the organization and effectively manage performance. There are many reasons the service line management approach should be adopted in the healthcare system. These reasons mainly benefit the staff, the service users, and the clinicians.
The use of service line management will help the managers and staff to offer improved care for both inpatient and outpatient. This can be done by positioning the clinicians in the forefront of service development a culture in which improvement is of most concern. The use of service line management will help the healthcare managers to reduce waiting time for the patients, short stay at the hospital and help reduce the incidences in which patients may acquire infections by visiting hospitals.
Moreover, adopting the use of a service line management approach will empower the clinicians and other healthcare managers to take the lead and be at the heart of service line operations. With this, the healthcare managers and leaders in the United States can take responsibility for healthcare development in the United States; the approach also is bound to help increase the performance, quality of healthcare services within the United States. In this case, the healthcare providers can ensure that they reshape the healthcare delivery system in the United States of America to meet the direct needs of the patients (Andrews 137).
Service line management is also essential where the leaders in healthcare services need a meticulous comprehension of available resources and also the cost; with this kind of knowledge, they can point out areas where savings can be made. For instance, this can be achieved by maximally utilizing theatres and increasing revenues (Barry and Smith 86). In addition, in case of profits are realized within a given service line, a good percentage of the profits can be reinvested within the unit where the profit is realized. The implication of this is that the leaders of the service line unit should have a major role to play in making the investment decisions and also be involved in improving the services and health care they offer to patients.
The use of the service line management approach by the United States’ healthcare sector is likely to put it in a stringer negotiation position. The service line management data gives the actual or real cost used for treatments at patient levels. This puts the sector in a strong position to negotiate with commissioners and hence ensure express benefits to the whole of the United States healthcare economy. This is specifically important to mental healthcare institutions where service line reporting has assisted in building proxy tariffs which are used to strengthen negotiations with the appropriate stakeholders.
Delegation is important in improving and managing performance. Service line management has proved to be very important in an effective delegation to a healthcare unit depending on the size, scale, and resources available for that unit. A delegation under this approach has the effect of enhancing the development of effective strategies and also driving performance improvement. Furthermore, a delegation of appropriate authority to service line managers enables decisions to be handled by those professionals possessing experience and relevant knowledge of the healthcare services offered (Andrews 137).
Conclusion
The service line management approach is very important in the healthcare sector of the United States of America. It helps in monitoring the performance of every service line unit. It also assists the managers in delegating responsibilities to every service line manager who is directly put in charge of performance in his or her service line unit. Overall, services line management can improve the services given to patients and ensure increased revenue for healthcare services providers (Barry and Smith 86).
Works Cited
Andrews, Esther. Practice Management for Dental Hygienists. New York: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2006.
Barry, Robert, and Smith, Amy. The manager’s guide to Six Sigma in healthcare: practical tips and tools for improvement. New York: American Society for Quality, 2005.
Buchbinder, Sharon, and Thompson, Jon. Career opportunities in health care management: perspectives from the field. New York: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2010.