Research Articles Base: Managing Medical Schemes

Challenges to Managing Medical Schemes in Public Institutions

Introduction             Providing such medical schemes in a country like Kenya is very much beneficial to its people. The Republic of Kenya which is part of the continent of South Africa has been engage with a lot of health problems lately. In order extend some help to the society, the launched of medical schemes in public institutions will grant these people the appropriate services that they needed.             It is no surprise that handling such medical schemes in public institutions requires a lot of hard work and patience to be able to harness the proper type of services that every individual needs. Each medical scheme should therefore have a responsible medical scheme council that will implement all the provisions related to the scheme (Anonymous, 2005). The success of each scheme will vary on its implementation. In South Africa, there are many medical schemes however, only few of them are being open to the public.   The Medical Schemes             The provision of the medical scheme indicates a greater responsibility especially if it meant to be provided among public institutions. There are several types of medical schemes and each type corresponds to certain needs. Each individual should choose the most suitable option available for them. Medical schemes are provided to lessen the unnecessary difficulties that confront each person regarding mainly their health. Mostly the common problems encountered are related to the cost of the medical services.             According to Mbogo (2008) there is a new medical scheme that will reduce the cost of health care in Kenya. Most of the Kenyans pay their hospital bills through their own pockets which becomes too much burden for them. The high cost of the medical care in their country is due to the failure of harmonizing the three pillars of medical services which are health service providers, patients and financiers (such as insurance company). To make the discussion shorter, the success of this particular scheme will depend on its implementation on the poor citizens of Kenya who definitely cannot afford expensive medications.             “The best is to have a hybrid system that mixes social protection for the poor and competition through a free market,” said Dr Thakker. “This system ensures that those who can afford health insurance pay while those who cannot use a cheaper membership system.” ( Mbogo, 2008)             Health is one of the complicated issues that a country is always encountering. Despite of the improvement in technology regarding the concept of the medications and facilities there are still many people who can’t afford providing their selves such health care needs. If the government will just take things seriously, then this problem will certainly be minimized. The goal should focus on the welfare of the people and not with the amount of earnings that they will have.             It has been reported that the implementation of medical schemes among the government employees may lead to the progression of the health care system in the continent of South Africa. It would be a great advantage for them to have an access like that. Another advantage of medical schemes is that it also lessens the threat of having preventable diseases because the people will become more aware of the possible health trend happening in their locations (Anonymous, 2007). Conclusion             The idea of providing medical schemes in public institutions will gain a lot of criticisms.  More or less, it will encounter unnecessary problem within its implementations if not provided with proper management. The aim should focus on the welfare of the society as a whole and not only limited with those who can afford it. Every body is entitled with such opportunity therefore everybody is considerable top priority.   Recommendation             To come up with such intention on managing medical schemes, it would be recommended that there should be an authorized person who will take the responsibility of rendering such services in every people. Another thing is that the government should learn to interact with its people; the connection gained with this will further result to more understanding between the needs of the entire society as public institutions are being rendered under the government policies.   References Anonymous,2007, Government Employees Medical Scheme is a Key Driver for the South African Healthcare Industry, Business Wire,[Online].Available at http://www.allbusiness.com/services/business-services/4544882-1.html [accessed 7 August 2008]   Anonymous,2005, Social Health Insurance Scheme for All Kenyans: Opportunities and Sustainability Potential, Institute of Policy Analysis and Research, [Online]. Available at   http://www.ipar.or.ke/dp60pb.pdf [accessed 7 August 2008]        Medical Scheme, n.d., [Online]. Available at http://www.medicalscheme.co.za/ [accessed 7 August 2008]             Mbogo,S.,2008, New Medical Scheme to Reduce Cost of Healthcare, Business Daily (Nairobi), [Online]. Available at http://www.propertykenya.com/news/515665-new-medical-scheme-to-reduce-cost-of-healthcare.php [accessed 7 August 2008] Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Challenges to Managing Medical Schemes in Public Institutions

Introduction Providing such medical schemes in a country like Kenya is very much beneficial to its people. The Republic o...

Managing in Organizations

Introduction The design, the competencies inherent as well as the technologies present in the organisation are major factors that affect the overall operations of the organisation. In this regard, these factors tend to mesh together to form a type of organisation with a unique set of qualities. For instance, there are pharmaceutical companies that focus on the development of drugs to help diabetes patients. Diabetes, as of now, has yet to have a cure. All that is present in the market is a means to manage the illness. It is this reality that makes pharmaceutical companies to focus on their resources on diabetes. However, that is merely a speck of the overall reason why a certain pharmaceutical company prefers to focus on a single illness alone. The following discussion shall present these reasons. The Task Variability in low The development and manufacturing of these diabetes drugs are rather low in its task variability. Task variability, in its simplest sense, is the frequency of unexpected situations that an individual encounters while performing a particular task. In the case of the development and research in the said area, pharmaceutical companies tend to encounter considerably protracted periods before seeing some form of progress in their products. This means that in the development part alone, the variability of the task is low already. With reference to its manufacturing, the process is considerably routinely in nature which generally involves packaging and distribution of the merchandise. The quality of low task variability on the part of the pharmaceutical companies shows that the operations of these organisations are considerably easy to manage.   The Task Analysability is Low Task analysability is the degree to which the search activity is needed to solve a problem. In this case, pharmaceutical companies have the propensity to encounter activities with low task analysability. This is because those charged by the company to find solutions to the diabetes problem will have to search for the solution for a protracted period of time. Their success or failure to do so is still vague. In the process, these individuals charged by pharmaceutical companies tend to stumble upon certain findings that don’t offer the cure for diabetes but gives the opportunity to manage the illness. In the case of manufacturing the products, the company have some level of control on the task analysability. This is because they can programme it in advance. Failure on accomplishing the process comes from a breakdown of certain technologies in the company. Whether it is from the skills, knowledge, abilities, materials, machines, computers, tools and other equipment in the organisation, failure in the process will directly come from one of these elements. The Production of the merchandise goes through routine manufacturing While the development and research of the merchandise are non-routine, the production process in the pharmaceutical company is rather routine in nature. In having a routine manufacturing type of technology in the organisation means that it possesses low task variability and high analysability. This shows that the development and research process is more complex than that of the manufacturing. Essentially, the manufacturing part of the process involves mass production which is fundamentally a concrete manifestation of a routine manufacturing technology. The Development of the product places high regard on craftswork technology In the same regard, this shows that the research and development of the product involves craftswork as it has low task variability and low task analysability. Craftswork is considered a technology which concerns a selection of skilled workers who act together intimately to generate a set of custom designed products. For those involves in the research and development process, they tend to seek new methods of incorporating the existing methods to new situations. This is especially true in the case of the pharmaceutical industry where the standards of quality and competitive advantage among drugs and other medicines can change in a second.  The Organizational structure of Pharmaceutical Companies complements the Non-routine technology The structure of the pharmaceutical company appears to be rather complex as its operations acquire both routine and non-routine technologies. This is the reason why the company focuses on a particular type of sickness, diabetes. It is assumed that such a company that does such a thing would have a considerably small structure. Whether the organisational structure is tall or small is still uncertain. However, the control on the overall organisation is distinctive with reference to the particular type of operation. On the part of the manufacturing functions, the company possess a high level of control while the research and development sector possesses some leeway as they would be taking into account the variability and analysability of the tasks involved in the process.      Conclusion The discussions above have presented the reasons why a pharmaceutical company focuses on developing a diabetic medicine. First, one must point out that the operations of the company are complex as they manage both routine and non-routine technologies in its manufacturing and research and development functions respectively. The discussions show that the task variability and the task analysability of operating in such a manner are considerably low with reference to the research and development of the company. On the other hand, the company has immense control on the manufacturing side of their operations as the process acquires routine technologies which are highly predictable and manageable. The study found out that the research and development function of the pharmaceutical company provides higher esteem on craftswork while the manufacturing side acquires a routine manufacturing aspect of the technology. In any case, the structure of the company complements the overall function of focusing on a single type of illness. Focusing on other types may induce more resources which the company may fail to produce.         Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Managing in Organizations

Introduction The design, the competencies inherent as well as the technologies present in the organisation are major factors...