Managed Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Managed Care - Essay Example In other words, managed care organizations mean two things: health insurance and delivery health care at relatively low rates. There are different types of managed care organizations. Some of them are as following: 1. Health Maintenance Organization (HMO): This is tipped as the first form of managed care. HMOs refer to organization wherein insuranceplans, hospitals and physicians are either closely related or are a part of the same organization. An important example of HMO is Permanente. An HMO has completely charge of the hospital including the salaries paid to the doctors In case of emergency, patients using the HMO plan have to use the plan affiliated care provider. The biggest advantage of the HMO plan is that it offers a fixed amount of money that can be spent on the patient. This in its own restricts the patients and physicians and they tend to opt for the most cost effective treatment or drug. Thus, one ends up paying less for an HMO plan compared to the rest. The biggest disa dvantage also emanates from its biggest advantage. HMO plans tend to focus more on cost control then the quality of care. 2. Fee-for-Service or FFS: This type of plan gives a lot of liberty to the patient. It gives them the freedom to choose their preferred doctor or health care provider. Physicians then get the fee for each and every service including the visit, the procedure and the tests. However, here freedom does not trump cost. Patients opting for this type of plan end up paying more. 3. Independent Practice Association, or IPA: In this kind of association, physicians are completely empowered. They can have patient from the HMO and FFS plans. 4. Preferred Provider Organization, or PPO: In this type of plan, the rates are low but physicians get more patients to deal with. This kind of plan works both ways. Patients not just get better care and freedom but they also get it at lower rates. On the other hand physicans get more business. Both sides benefit in this type of plan. 5. Point of Service Plans, or POS. This type of plan resembles the HMO plan in many ways. Here the doctors do not have to work in specific hospitals. They tend to receive compensations based on the number of patients they are handling per year. It is per patient per year compensation. References Managed Care Magazine (2000). Capitation Rates See Large Boost. Retrieved on July 26, 2010 from http://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/0012/0012.compmon.html. Managed Care Magazine (2000). Capitation: an update. Retrieved on July 26, 2010 from http://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/0005/0005.compmon.html. Managed Care Magazine (2000). Physician Financial Incentives: Another UM Tool Bites the Dust. Retrieved on J

JetBlue Airline S.W.O.T analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

JetBlue Airline S.W.O.T analysis - Essay Example Other airline companies that JetBlue has formed alliances with include Lufthansa, OpenSkies, American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Jet Airways and South African Airways among others. In its effort to maintain strong positive relationship with its clients, JetBlue emulates strong advertising strategies by use of local newspapers, televisions and social media including YouTube and Hulu.com. The company has adopted advertising phrases for example we like you too and unbelievable. As the result of extensive marketing strategies, the company has benefited from strong customer awareness and distinctive positioning aspects that have made it to attain a competitive edge in the market. One of the notable core values that make JetBlue Airline to be the option of US travelers is its strong binding with Customer Bill of Rights. According to the company management, if customer’s flights are cancelled or delayed, they are refunded their funds (Laurence, 2008). JetBlue has been involve d in two major incidents that did not result to any casualty. The first one is the 2005 emergency landing of Flight 292 at Los Angeles Airport. The second one happened on Flight 191 when the captain was subdued by the travelers and locked out of the cockpit after a panic attack. One of the major weaknesses of JetBlue Airline is that it does not have large number of hubs as compared to other airlines in the US. As a result, the company is not in a position to effectively compete with its rivals that includes Southwest, Pan AM, Northwest, American and Delta among others. Another weakness is that it does not have many destinations as compared to other firms in the US airline industry. This implies that the sales that the company makes are not maximum and if the company invests in more destinations across the US and abroad, it could make higher sales and sustainable

Analysis of an International Organization Research Paper

Analysis of an International Organization - Research Paper Example For airlines, it is necessary to have a strong team of professional enthusiastic individuals to make the business a success. Like every business in the service sector, airlines too require their workforce to be internally satisfied so that this behavior of theirs is reflected in their behavior with the customers. If one looks up ‘HR challenges faced by United Airlines’ online, every search engine gives an array of links that discuss the failing, almost embarrassing, situation of the airlines. Since its merger, it has faced a number of problems that range from operational inefficiency to lack of HR training. In the world of today, where options at hand are plenty and the organizations need to stand out through effective strategies and customer orientation, this is not a good business scenario. For every service business, the customer touch point is an essential deal maker or breaker. The moment a customer interacts with an employee representing the service organization, he gets a taste of the organizational culture and sets a service expectation standard. Customer satisfaction is the ultimate goal of such organizations. The major HR problems faced by United Airlines are as follows: -Lack of a strong organizational culture after the merger: After United Airlines made the acquisition of Continental Airlines, there was a lack of effort on the management’s side to unify the workforce so that there is a uniform sense of dedication towards the ‘United’ brand (Busmanagement.com). Even though efforts were made to gather the best talents from both the sides of the merger, the company still faces issues with bringing all its employees to term with their merger. -Lack of employee training programs: the employees are not trained to be customer oriented which reflects in their service levels. Their focus is on getting their work done and not making sure that the customers are made to feel genuinely valued and cared for. This is

Using Marx's concepts and methodology, analyze a specific news story, Essay

Using Marx's concepts and methodology, analyze a specific news story, feature article, column, editorial, cartoon, advertisement, video, etc. published since January 1, 2014 - Essay Example According to unofficial but reliable information, the Argentines are currently faced with a nearly 30% increase in prices from 2013. It is however, estimated that things will move from worse to worst with a further projection to 45% in this year and further 56% in Venezuela occur. Interestingly it has also been noted that women have been taking their men to court as a way of seeking for alimony payments due to the tough economic times. Moreover, the informal sector has not been left behind from this wind as it is reported that even the extortion racket has doubled its fee of its so called protection over the past year. The president of the central bank in this country also confirms the case of rising inflation as he reported a 25% increase in monetary supply in 2013 alone which aimed at cushioning the government’s budget deficit. From the above sentiments it is possible to connect some of the Marx’s theories. For example, it is evident that human society is progressing through class struggle as a conflict between an ownership classes that controls the production is existing with those poor citizens who provide labor for production. It is no wonder Butros Sandra a 50 years old businesswoman running a market stall says, â€Å"they are toasting Champagne while the people become divided†. According to Marx, the bourgeoisie who are wealthy control the wealth at their own benefit and this would definitely lead to tensions something that is already eminent. This idea is further supported by Tucker-Marx-Engel reader (Karl Marx Friedrich Engels Robert C. Tucker pg 78). This is also the central argument proposed in this article and theorists Marx, Engel and Tucker. From the case study we are made aware of Venezuela which is already suffering from social unrest. According to Marx these are the tensions that accrue when a few wealthy personalities control the economy. To support this

Patricia Benner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Patricia Benner - Essay Example Benner went on to work as nurse for several years, including a period in an intensive care unit, an emergency room, as a staff nurse, and in home care. She then returned to academia, as a researcher at the University of California. In 1984, she authored the work which set out the basic principles of her influential theories – From novice to expert – Excellence and Power in Clinical Nursing Practice. Benner had become very interested in the Dreyfus model of skills acquisition, and, in this work, adapted this to nursing. Her main intention in doing so was to answer the question ‘how do nurses learn to do nursing?’ (enursescribe.com). This book was based on 21 sets of interviews Benner had conducted with newly-graduated nurses and their preceptors. Additionally, Benner interviewed or observed some 51 experienced clinical nurses, a further 11 newly-graduated nurses, and 5 senior nursing students, hoping ‘to further delineate and describe characteristics of nurse performance at different levels of education and experience’ (Benner, 1996, p.xiv). Among Benner’s many other works are the 1996 book Expertise in Nursing Practice: Caring, Clinical Judgement, and Ethics, with Christine Tanner and Catherine Chesla, and Caregiving, with Suzanne Gordon and Nel Nodding, published in the same year. Her work has had an enormous influence on nursing training and practice, and already in 1985, the year after the publication of From novice to expert, she was elected to the fellowship of the American Academy of Nursing. Benner has also been elected an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Nursing. This influence has also spread well beyond the United States. For example, Benner’s work has provided the basis for a redesigned system of nursing practice and education in three states in Australia (earthlink.net). Benner proposed that a

Australian waste Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Australian waste - Essay Example The most polluted sites in Australia include transport sites, roadsides, park/waterfront areas, rivers and creeks, school grounds, coastal/beach areas, as well as shops and malls. A recent trend exists that seeks to move away from burying and burning of waste in Australia towards its reuse and recycling. This shift towards sustainable development and conservation ideals with regards to waste disposal, as well as policies aimed at recycling, reusing, reduction of generation, and extraction of energy from the waste have caught on in Australia. Since the 1990s, household waste recycling has become more popular. Reasons for this trend can be explained by the presence of kerbside recycling; raising commodity prices, as well as increased levies for land fill services to prohibitive levels. However, mobile phones have introduced a new dilemma since they contain harmful products. This has necessitated novel ways of disposal. AUSTRALIAN WASTE Australia generates approximately one tonne of was te every year that is sent into a landfill. After the United States and Israel, Australia ranks as the third largest producers of landfill among developed countries. Significantly, most of this waste is resultant from goods that Australians do not even use with waste of over $10.5 billion per year occurring. This habit has begun developing in the early 20th century as ideas of convenience and hygiene gave rise to disposable products, which was justified because the consumer was assured of un-contaminated products. Buying into disposability is easy because new products are cheaper than fixing a broken one. However, this kind of disposability is a fantasy that exists because Australians do not have to see, smell, or handle their waste. This is unlike natural systems where waste is critical in the maintenance of life and, therefore, is not removed, but used as a resource for another system. While organic material in nature can decompose and be used to create something new, this is not possible for industrial objects. It, therefore, becomes important to recognize the regenerative power that waste can have. Australia’s recycling habits, however, have been improving, although there is room for improvement. The most important waste management principle, including recycling, repair, reuse, and reduce, is refuse. Australians are encouraged not to buy a lot of products to begin with since the realization of a sustainable environment also needs a reduction in consumption (O'Connor, 2007). For fourteen years, plastics make up the majority of waste collected in Australia with 31.75 of all collected waste being plastics. Miscellaneous items like cigarette butts made up 17.7% of all rubbish. Metal, especially aluminium ranked third at 14.6%, followed by glass at 13.1%, and finally paper at fifth accounting for 12.6% of all collected rubbish (Australia Bureau of Stastistics, 2007). Other material included polystyrene and rubber. These are the major sources of rubbish i n Australia. When it comes to rubbish items, cigarette butts rank first accounting for 29.6% of items surveyed. Alcoholic beverage containers made of glass were second with 5.4%. The other rubbish items in order of prevalence include confectionary and plastic chip bags, plastic bottle caps, pieces of glass, PET drink containers, metal items, especially aluminium, and paper. The most polluted sites in Australia include transport sites,

Managing and Leading Strategic Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Managing and Leading Strategic Change - Essay Example However, the increase of the market share of Microsoft, the major competitor of IBM, led to the limitation of the power of IBM in the global market. Accenture plc and Hewlett Packard are other important competitors of IBM (Yahoo Finance 2011). The strategic plans of IBM have changed many times in order to support the increase of the firm’s competitiveness towards its rivals. In 2003-2004 a major restructuring of the firm’s supply chain management framework took place, aiming to enforce the firm’s competitiveness the support the increase of its profits. The above plan is analytically reviewed in this paper, as explained above, aiming to show the ability of the firm to monitor its operations and identify its weaknesses. Also, the willingness of the firm’s employees to support radical organizational changes – in order for the firm’s performance to be stabilized, is critically evaluated. 2. Strategic change in IBM 2.1 Key change plans in IBM As n oted above, the strategic plans of IBM have been periodically changed in order to align the organizational practices with the market trends and the customer needs. The last effort of such type has been developed in 2009 – when the firm established ‘the Business Analytics and Optimization (BAO) consulting service line’ (Soejarto 2009). ... 2005) aiming to keep its market share – against the industry’s major competitors, especially Microsoft. However, the above initiative did not led to the expected benefits – in 1993, the losses of the firm were estimated to $8 billion (Meyer et al. 2005). In 2003 the firm’s strategic planners identified important failures in the organization’s supply chain management strategies; efforts were made for updating existing supply chain management practices. The Integrated supply chain (ISC) has been a scheme introduced for helping towards the elimination of delays in the firm’s operations – as these delays were related to failures in the existing supply chain management framework (Paton et al. 2006). The update of the particular sector of the organization lasted for 2 years, 2003 and 2004 and led to the introduction of an integrated plan for managing the supply chain relations in all their aspects. The above change plan contributed in the im provement of the firm’s supply chain management. However, certain implications were not avoided, a fact that led to the limitation of the plan’s benefits – as planned by the initiators of the particular project. 2.2 Implications of change initiated in IBM Despite the fact that change, as part of IBM’s strategic planning process, has been traditionally aligned with the organizational needs and the market conditions, still, the effectiveness of the relevant plans is rather limited – at least compared to the resources engaged and the preparation made for the particular initiatives. The reasons for the delays in the development of the organization’s performance need to be identified and evaluated; also, the potential failures in the plans of change, as promoted in the