How are healthcare organizations responding to globalization? Evidence from a national perspective.

Seminar Description:

How are your competitors dealing with the challenges and opportunities of globalization? How does your organization stack up against your competitors in "going global"? How can your leadership team monitor and prioritize present and future impacts of globalization? What issues are passing trends and which are more likely to have lasting impact? Using evidence from a national sample of healthcare organizations, this presentation will address current trends and future directions in how globalization is affecting health care organizations, and the ways in which healthcare organizations are responding.

Participants at the 2007 ACHE Congress were asked to identify ways in which their organization is affected by globalization, including opportunities and threats presented by the movement of people, information, technology, and ideas across borders. Participants reported a broad range of impacts and concerns, including recruitment and retention of foreign healthcare workers, people traveling to other countries for care and prescriptions, outsourcing of radiological and other services to other countries, uncertainties related to providing care to immigrant populations, and increasing diversity among hospital staff and the population served. It is clear that the impact of globalization on U.S. healthcare organizations is broad and affects organizations at many different levels. Many of these challenges are interrelated and often difficult to disentangle.

In this session, we report evidence from a broader sample of healthcare organizations about specific impacts, responses, and proactive strategies. Participants will not only learn about current trends and future directions, but also about "early warning systems" for impacts of globalization that come in "under the radar?"

We find that the impact of globalization is felt at different levels in the organization. How are these impacts recognized and communicated to senior leadership? How does senior leadership maintain a level of surveillance and awareness of these multi-level impacts? For example, are there mechanisms for senior leadership to learn about changes in the number of uninsured immigrants being seen in the emergency department? Does the HR department have a mechanism for monitoring the flow of foreign workers into the community and the hospital workforce? How does senior leadership organize and prioritize these concerns and identify those organizational units most affected by these challenges? In this session, we will address techniques for monitoring and communicating significant developments and changes in your own organization.

Learning Objectives:

Learn how healthcare organizations recognize and manage impacts of globalization.
Compare your organization to industry benchmarks in addressing international challenges.
Recognize, monitor, and communicate emerging impacts in your organization.

Presenter Experience:

Faculty Member & Director, Residential Master’s Program, Department of Health Policy & Administration, University of State
Faculty Member, Department of Health Administration, Faculty of Medicine, University of Other State
Social Worker & Clinic Manager, Inlet Bay Medical Center
Has conducted presentations at ACHE Congress in global health systems, and at meetings of the Academy of Management, Association of University Programs in Health Administration, Association for Healthcare Human Resources Administration, the International Clinical Epidemiology Network, and other organizations and associations
Education:University A-BA in Asian Studies, University B-JD