UnitedHealth Group
UnitedHealth Group is the largest healthcare insurance company that was established in 1974. According to their website, they have three fundamental strengths that set them different from other health care firms that are clinical care management, health information, and sophisticated technology (UnitedHealthcare, n.d.). It is a for-profit corporation with headquarters in Minnesota. It provides insurance and healthcare products to individuals, small and medium-sized organizations, and worldwide corporations. The company is one of the major healthcare corporations in the United States, offering a diverse variety of services to its customers. United Health Care has made and continues to make significant investments in R&D, technology, and business process infrastructure during the last five years. United Healthcare is a modern, promising, and visionary corporation whose activities are aimed at shaping a better future for both the company and the entire American society.
Readiness to Address Healthcare Needs of Citizens
The organization provides a wide range of initiatives to help promote a healthy lifestyle among the American people and improve access to health care by reducing socioeconomic status inequities and giving sufficient health – related information care program choices. The company’s most recent revisions provide equal and qualitative coverage for residents in all states. United Helathcare’s major aims are to improve patient happiness by applying patient-centered principles and increasing productivity and effectiveness of medical services. In the coming decade, the organization will also concentrate on assisting people with chronic diseases by delivering programs to avoid the development of these ailments. The success of the therapy will be used to determine the cost of a health-care package. All transactions will be computerized and based on a patient’s financial history. Public health programs will be upgraded to provide customers with more cost-effective, long-term, and high-quality treatment. Therefore, it can be assumed that the company is ready to address health care needs of the population.
Strategic Plan
Primarily, the strategic plan of United Healthcare is recommended to focus on the process of formation, development, and implementation of plans to expand the customer base and improve the quality of patient care, as well as the introduction of innovative approaches to internal processes and staff training. Therefore, a long-term system of consistent goals and objectives should be based on marketing aspects, technological and revolutionary solutions, humanistic approaches to customers, and pedagogical tasks in the training of employees. Together, relying on each of the previously listed points, the company will contribute to the elimination of existing shortcomings in the company, as well as the promotion of its activities, taking into account external and internal elements at the micro, meso, and macro levels.
Strategic Plan for Network Growth
United Healthcare is one of the most well-known and leading companies in its field in the USA. Thus, for example, more than 125,000 workers contribute their skills to United Healthcare across 50 states of the country (UnitedHealthcare, n.d.). Every year, month, and day, an increasing proportion of Americans seek to purchase health insurance. However, this fact does not guarantee United Healthcare a greater influx of customers and applications for insurance. Hence, the marketing team needs to develop a network expansion plan to attract more customers. Such work requires a viral marketing plan to connect with the intended clientele (Khalil & Muneenam, 2021). By using this method, the business connects with organizational employers and creates a contract with them to persuade their employees to take insurance with this firm.
Strategic Plan for Nurse Staffing Issues
The organization should offer a nursing advancement center to help nursing professionals develop their leadership and educational abilities in order to fulfill the needs of patients in the following decade. United Healthcare Group adheres to the popular strategy of health care organizations by providing moving nursing staff in-home care and ambulatory settings. Yet, they should do this by coordinating care and engagement with patients with severe conditions and adopting new skills and roles to fulfill the standards of the advanced information technologies currently used in the health care system.
Strategic Plan for Resource Management
The organization’s resource management is focused on offering greater health care quality to the American people. It should create a transplant network system that would aid in the use of appropriate evidence-based data to save costs and enhance patient care. Customers say that using this firm for donor transplantation is convenient and simple. United Healthcare Group has created two initiatives to assist Americans living in rural areas in managing chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes by providing timely access to health care (Esfahani et al., 2018). The organization’s diabetic health plans need to assist its consumers in saving money while receiving qualified medical treatment.
Strategic Plan for Patient Satisfaction
Patients are the main clients of United Healthcare, who expect that their insurance company will cover their hospital expenses when visiting a medical institution. However, there are instances when a patient is advised that their insurance firm would cover a portion of their amount. This may result in significant discontent since clients may believe the business is failing to deliver its commitments; such issues can be avoided by managing clients’ expectations. This firm’s marketing section should convey to customers what to expect when they visit healthcare facilities (Esfahani et al., 2018). This will make it easier for them to comprehend what is expected of them and may include what a receiver would get if an insured died. Customers will know what services to expect from the company once they have this knowledge. Quality services, particularly when processing payments for patients, should be a top emphasis for this company.
Organizational Cultural Issues That May Affect Aspects of the Strategic Plan
Some organizational cultural issues may affect aspects of strategic planning, such as poor communication and the type of leadership used in the company. Employees may not comprehend what is expected of them, or they may believe that stated policies contradict real behavior. Workplace regulations, for example, may declare that management promotes a healthy work-life balance, but the firm may only promote single employees who are ready to work long hours without complaining (George et al., 2019). Workers may not communicate well with one another and may be hesitant to approach supervisors with ideas, comments, and concerns. United Healthcare may fail to effectively express objectives and goals from the top down, leaving employees in the dark about what they should be doing.
Expectancy Theory
It seems that expectancy theory is the best suit for the implementation of the strategic plan of the United Healthcare company. This theory is founded on the idea that people’s actions are motivated by the outcomes (Lloyd & Mertens, 2018). For example, a corporation may give its employees extended hours in exchange for additional pay. Employees may be delighted because they are paid more, or they may be demotivated because they are required to work longer hours. Employee behavior is changed favorably or adversely when they get rewards. Strategic management must focus on both concrete and intangible benefits that aid to encourage rather than demotivate personnel. United Healthcare is a large corporation with many employees who need to be constantly motivated with rewards as the work is related to health and people directly, having increased amount of stress. Therefore, rewarding is crucial for the development of the company and needs to be maintained to further reach the organization’s success.
References
Esfahani, P., Mosadeghrad, A. M., & Akbarisari, A. (2018). The success of strategic planning in health care organizations of Iran. International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance. 31(6), 563-574. Web.
George, B., Walker, R. M., & Monster, J. (2019). Does strategic planning improve organizational performance? A meta‐analysis. Public Administration Review, 79(6), 810-819. Web.
Khalil, M. K., & Muneenam, U. (2021). Multifaceted corporate social responsibility: Advancing organizational strategic planning for better environmental prospects in healthcare sector. Tobacco Regulatory Science, 7(6), 7466-7483. Web.
Lloyd, R., & Mertens, D. (2018). Expecting more out of expectancy theory: History urges inclusion of the social context. International Management Review, 14(1), 28-43. Web.
UnitedHealthcare. (n.d.). Health insurance plans for individuals & families, employers, medicare. United HealthCare Services, Inc. Web.