Response to students post on external environment

al affiliation Response to Alyssa Charlton’s post on the external environment for a healthcare organization.
The posting compares the external environment of healthcare organizations in United States and Africa. In the united states, health care organization are forging alliances for the purpose of creating an expansive market and increase competitor vulnerability that may lead to the elimination of competitors in the market. This has an impact on creating new markets with increased profits. Despite this opportunity, the healthcare organizations are affected by the economic and political factors. In the economic sector, the health care organization is under pressure to outdo other competitors in the market by purchasing expensive modern technological equipment. This equipment is demanded by the health care consumers who call for the reduction of health care costs by the health care organization, thus striking a balance between the two has been difficult (Studer, 2008).
In the political sector, various government bodies have an impact on health care organizations through regulations that are meant to ensure quality and safety in the delivery of health care services. The occupational safety and health administration (OSHA) ensures environmental safety in the health care organization. The US food and drug administration (FDA) approves new drugs that are marketed or sold to the public. These regulatory bodies thus keep a close look on the health care organizations therefore affecting their operation.
In Africa, the posting highlights the healthcare organization market being affected by the economic status of the population. The Greater percentage of the population who are low-income earners seeks health care services from the public hospital while the middle and high-income earners seek healthcare services from the private hospitals. The government in this region seeks to increase accessibility to health care through the creation of a national health insurance fund (NHIF). The NHIF will enable increased accessibility of quality healthcare for all population thus expanding the health care market.
The article has highlighted how the economic, political and technological factors have impacted on the healthcare organization in the United States and Africa. It does not clearly indicate how sociocultural and financial factors have impacted on the healthcare organization considering that the two have had tremendous trends. This trends ranges from cultural diversification, increased population and increased accessibility to information on health care. Africa is also made up of 53 countries each with the unique external environment for the health care organization. This article talk of Africa as a continent, but it does not highlight trends in the external environment of healthcare organization in a specific African country like Kenya, which has already implemented the use of NHIF.
Response to chase Andrews post on external environment
The posting mainly highlights the external environment of healthcare organizations in United States. A comparison is made with other world countries with no specification. The article highlights external environmental factors that affect US healthcare organization that ranges from political, technological and economic factors. In the technological sector, advancement in technology has made US health care organizations to maintain electronic records instead of paper records. The aging medical professions have also impacted negatively in healthcare organizations. The aged doctors and nurses have reduced ability to mentor the upcoming nurses and doctors; this creates labor shortages in the healthcare organizations.
In the financial sector, accessibility of healthcare has been affected by the economic status of the US population. Many US citizens can access health care services as compared to the citizens of the other countries. Through Medicare, the US citizens can access health care services even if they will not be able to pay for them.
The article narrowly highlights the external environment of the US healthcare organization. It does not highlight how current changes in technology and sociocultural factors have affected the health care organization. The US population has undergone dynamic changes in terms of education and cultural diversity. The posting does not highlight how these changes in population have affected the healthcare organization. The technology, on the other hand, has led to the emergence of new methods of treatment and diagnosis. This has made many healthcare organizations acquire this equipment to remain competitive (Grigoroudis, 2012).
The article has not compared the external environment of the US health care organization with a specific country. It talks of other countries in the world. Different world countries have specific external environmental factors that affect their health care organization. This is because of cultural differences, economic status, and political structure. Therefore, the article writer needed to choose a specific country to make a comparison with.
References
Grigoroudis, E., Orfanoudaki, E., & Zopounidis, C. (2012). Strategic performance measurement in a healthcare organisation: A multiple criteria approach based on balanced scorecard. Omega, 40(1), 104–119. http://doi. org/10. 1016/j. omega. 2011. 04. 001
Studer, Q. (2008). How well do your managers understand the external healthcare environment? Healthcare Financial Management : Journal of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, 62(12), 112–113.