Identify and discuss the most pressing strategic issues facing President Moen. The most pressing issues facing President Moen are: 1. Overcrowding of the Emergency Department: EMC which is located in Turlock, California has a rapidly ageing population comprising of the baby boomers and Hispanic patients; both of which were the fastest growing segment of emergency department admissions at EMC. Half of the patients admitted to the emergency department of EMC were either underinsured through government funded programs like MediCal or were uninsured. 2. Funding: The payouts are reducing and the operating costs are increasing. This created a gap between EMC costs and revenues. EMC’s profitability is under increasing pressure. The operating …show more content…
Close the hospital: Closing the hospital completely would adversely affect the healthcare through the community since EMC was the only independent hospital. 2. Merge with an HMO: Merging with an HMO is the next available option for EMC. This option has its own pros and cons. EMC’s organizational leadership would have to hand over operational control to the HMO. But, it would that the same time also allow EMC to compete more efficiently with the pressures of the external environment. The merger with a financially sound organization would enable EMC to have improved bargaining power, increased funds to recruit and retain the best staff and also improve the overall position to compete for …show more content…
Close the Emergency Department: The last option available to EMC is the closing of the emergency department. The cost of running the ED had increased considerably and the patient flow greatly increased the capacity for which the ED had been originally designed. However, half of the patients who were admitted to the ED were either underinsured through government funded programs like MediCal or were uninsured. Also less than 49% of the ED patients had complete insurance coverage. Greater than half of the patients who were admitted in EMC for an extended period of time were the patients initially admitted in the ED and were more often than not unable to pay EMC for the services. However, closing the ED would not be a viable strategic alternative since most of the patients came from the ED. General surgery and medical inpatient care which were EMC’s most profitable areas were closely related to the