Planning and Measuring Performance Essay Example for Free

Planning and Measuring Performance Essay Planning and Measuring Performance Planning and Measuring Performance This paper will discuss Hospital Corporation of America’s (HCA) goals of achieving industry-leading performance in clinical and satisfaction measures and recruiting and employing physicians to meet the need for high quality health services (University of Oregon Investment Group, 2011). This paper will also discuss which tools would be most effective in measuring the organization’s performance against the determined standards. The actual standards that HCA would use to measure the first goal of achieving industry-leading performance in clinical and satisfaction measures are set by The Joint Commission. According to Kicab Casta eda-Mendez (1999), achieving improved clinical performance and satisfaction measures requires performance measures in three areas: * To lead the entire organization in a particular direction. * To manage the resources needed to travel in this direction. * To operate the processes that make the organization work. According to Kicab Casta eda-Mendez (1999), these measures are: * Strategicto drive strategies into action and change the organizational culture. * Diagnosticto evaluate the effectiveness of these actions and the extent of change. * Operationalto improve continuously. The most effective tool to measure these improvements is benchmarking. Benchmarking against the top healthcare companies will determine if HCA is achieving industry-leading performance in clinical and satisfaction measures. Without benchmarking HCA could not determine if the company was leading the industry or if they were at the bottom of organizational ladder. HCA’s goal of hiring physicians to meet the need for high quality health services can be measured by determining the number of physicians need to accommodate the number of patients, determining the specialties/ sub-specialties the physicians are needed in, as well as measuring the retention rate of the physicians. The Balanced Scorecard would best fit this goal. The Balanced Scorecard allows the company to see the projected percentages and the actual percentages of the measurements. It also helps the company see what needs to be changed and gives direction for those changes. HCA can use benchmarking and the Balanced Scorecard to measure the different aspects of their goals. HCA will also be able to see the areas that need improvement and have some guidance into making these changes. With these tools HCA will be able to make an effective go at achieving their goals. References University of Oregon Investment Group (May 6, 2011). Hospital Corporation of America. Retrieved from http://uoinvestmentgroup. org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/HCA. pdf Casta eda-Mendez (1999). Performance Measurement in Healthcare. Retrieved from http://www. qualitydigest. com/may99/html/body_health. html

Essay --

There are a series of complex processes within the human body whose consequences is the wearing out of body cells and tissues and consequently their replacement is quite ideal. Body anatomy confirms that human body is made up of numerous cells that are organized into functional parts that work to achieve various life processes. As the processes in the body progress, there is synthesis of new cells that replace the worn out ones. The new cells need to be a replica or exact copies of the worn out cells with the same functional capacity and attributes. Otherwise, an abnormality occurs in the structure and physiology of the human body. In case malignant growths develop due to abnormality in the body cells, a condition known as cancer develops. Cancer basically can occur on any part of the body. The most common forms of cancer are lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer, cancer of the brain and colon cancer among others. Development of colon cancer begins when the process of the normal replacement of cells on the colon lining is interfered with which in most cases is due to faults in the process of mucosal cell division. As a result of this, the lining cells multiply gradually (for almost 10years) forming polyps which are pre-cancerous tumors. Further growth of the polyps generates mutations that facilitate subversion of the cells making them inexplicable. If not detected early, the pre-cancerous tumors may change course and attack other layers of the large intestine thus becoming cancerous (KEVIN, 2014). Precisely, colon cancer is a health condition in which malignant or cancerous cells develop in the tissues of the colon. Colon is actually a section of the digestive tract that helps in the absorption of waste and... ...ancer. A more advanced form of treatment of colon cancer is the use of radiations. This can be done in combination with chemotherapy for patients with colon cancer in the third stage. In the cases where the cancer has reached the fourth stage where the cells have reached adjacent organs like the liver, some treatments can be done to reach the liver. Some of them are ablation, directing the radiation to the liver, cryotherapy and liver surgery. PROGNOSIS Normally, there are higher chances of surviving if the cancer is detected prematurely. The question of certainty in survival depends on the stage at which the cancer is diagnosed. In most cases patients who have been diagnosed of colon cancer have high chances of surviving five years after the diagnosis (Network., 2012). Cancer at the first, second and third stages are essentially curable and the patients survive.

Student Rights Case Analysis Paper

As Americans we have certain expectations to what our rights are, in fact we have a bill of rights to ensure the rights we deserve. In most cases we consider these rights undeniable but sometimes they are deniable when you are a student on campus. Sometimes the legal line is not quite clear on rights that are afforded to students; rather the moral line is clear or not. In day to day adult life we expect law enforcement and lawyers to enforce our rights properly but on school grounds staff members are expected to take the role of enforcer and judge. The 4th Amendment protects Americans from unreasonable search and seizure, but students are not afforded the same right on most occasions. It has been established that searching backpacks and items of the like is permissible on school campus but Safford Unified School District #1 v. Redding delves into the more complicated area of body searches. At the age of 13 Savana Redding was called into the office of her school because she had been implicated in distribution of over the counter pain killers and prescription pain pills that were the strength of two Advil. The assistant principal and secretary went through Savana’s book bag and pockets were searched. After no pills were found on Savana’s outer layer of clothing the assistant principal â€Å"then had [the secretary]take Savana to the school nurse’s office to search her clothes for pills. After [the secretary] and the nurse, had Savana remove her outer clothing, they told her to pull her bra out and shake it, and to pull out the elastic on her underpants, thus exposing her breasts and pelvic area to some degree. No pills were found. † (Cornell University Law School, 2010) It is important to also point out that Savana’s parents were not notified until after the search and the assistant principal had not gotten details of when Savana had been distributing pill or where she kept these pills. Soon after Savana was pulled out of school and the legal proceedings began. It was decided by the Ninth Circuit Court that Savana had indeed had her 4th Amendment right had been violated. The court found that the circumstances did not warrant such an invasive search â€Å"because the suspected facts pointing to Savana did not indicate that the drugs presented a danger to students or were concealed in her underwear, [the assistant principal] did not have sufficient suspicion to warrant extending the search to the point of making Savana pull out her underwear. [the secretary] and [the nurse] said that they did not see anything when Savana pulled out her underwear, but a strip search and its Fourth Amendment consequences are not defined by who was looking and how much was seen. †. Cornell University Law School, 2010) Savana had a clean disciplinary record and the assistant principal had not even found out when the supposed pills were in Savana’s possession or how many were in her possession. The main problem with this search was that, while the measures may have been considered appropriate, there was no reasonable explanation for the extremes that the searc h went to because there was no proof a student would be hiding a non-dangerous contraband in her underwear. The 4th Amendment protects Americans from unreasonable search and seizure, but the school system only allows that protection sometimes. Schools are allowed to search backpacks but not strip search students. Some things seem obvious to outside eyes, like the fact that you shouldn’t strip search 13 year old children, but when you are in charge of 100s of children sometimes certain things get distorted. The assistant principal in this case was trying to make an example of Savana by showing how strict the school was on their drug policy, but he went too far. Risking the emotional damage a child might face from something like a strip search is never worth proving a point. Strip searching may be warranted in a situation like a student seeing another student carrying a weapon in their under garments, but in a situation where there is no real danger to other students it is extreme. As adults we expect all of our rights to be given to us but unfortunately adults don’t always feel the need to extend those rights to children. The judgment in this case could not have been fairer. Hopefully right infringements like this won’t happen to others thanks to Savana stepping forward. References Cornell University Law School.  (2010).  Legal Information Institute.  Retrieved from http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/08-479.ZS.html

President John Adams Fast Facts

John Adams (1735-1826) was one of Americas founding fathers. He is often seen as the forgotten president. He had been quite influential at the First and Second Continental Congresses. He nominated George Washington to be the first President. He also helped write the treaty that officially ended the American Revolution. However, he only served one year as president. The passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts harmed his reelection and legacy.   Following is a list of fast facts for John Adams. You can also read the: John Adams BiographyTop 10 Things You Should Know About John Adams Birth: October 30,  1735 Death: July 4, 1826 Term of Office: March 4, 1797-March 3, 1801 Number of Terms Elected: 1 Term First Lady: Abigail Smith John Adams Quote: Let me have my farm, family and goose quill, and all the honors and offices this world has to bestow may go to those who deserve them better and desire them more. I court them not. Additional Adams Quotes Major Events While in Office: XYZ Affair (1797)Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions (1798)Navy Department and Marine Corps Created (1798)Capital moved to Washington, D.C. (1800)Library of Congress established (1800)Midnight Appointments (1801) John Adams Quotes: The people, when they have been unchecked, have been as unjust, tyrannical, brutal, barbarous, and cruel, as any king or senate possessed of uncontrollable power. The majority has eternally, and without one exception, usurped over the rights of the minority. If national pride is ever justifiable or excusable it is when it springs, not from power or riches, grandeur or glory, but from  conviction  of national innocence,  information  and benevolence.... The history of our Revolution will be one continued lie from one end to the other. The essence of the whole will be that Dr. Franklins electrical rod smote the earth and out sprang General Washington. That Franklin electrified him with his rod - and  thenceforward  these two conducted all the policies, negotiations, legislatures, and war. The balance of power in a society accompanies the balance of property in land. My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived. (Upon being elected as the first  Vice President) I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof. (Upon moving into the White House) I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. Did you ever see a portrait of a great man without perceiving strong traits of pain and anxiety? Every man in [Congress] is a great man, an orator, a critic, a statesman; and therefore every man upon every question must show his oratory, his criticism, and his political abilities. Modesty is a virtue that can never thrive in public. Related John Adams Resources: These additional resources on John Adams can provide you with further information about the president and his times. The Boston MassacreJohn Adams was an attorney for the defense during the aftermath of the Boston Massacre. But who was to blame for the Massacre? Was it truly an act of tyranny or just an unfortunate event of history? Read the conflicting testimonies here. Revolutionary WarThe debate over the Revolutionary War as a true revolution will not be resolved. However, without this struggle America might still be part of the British Empire. Find out about the people, places and events that shaped the revolution. Treaty of ParisThe Treaty of Paris officially ended the American Revolution. John Adams was one of the three Americans sent to negotiate the treaty. This provides the complete text of this historic treaty. Other Presidential Fast Facts George WashingtonThomas JeffersonList of American Presidents