OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Choosing an Organization Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Identify an organization and situation you want to study over the remainder of the course.
2. Describe the organization and the situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

1) Name and describe your organization.

The organization that I am choosing is Kaiser Permanente. Founded in 1945, Kaiser

Permanente is recognized as one of America’s leading healthcare providers and nonprofit health

plans. We currently serve members in 8 states and the District of Columbia (Permanente, 2022).

Kaiser is among the major players in the American healthcare system serving approximately 12.6

million members as of 2022. They are also one of the largest managed care organizations which

are health insurance companies that use a variety of strategies to control costs and improve

quality of care. This includes things like contracting with other networks of hospitals, physicians,

or specialized care providers to offer more services to their patients at a lower cost. I want to

mainly cover the ongoing union battles that are impacting healthcare organizations like Kaiser.

Much of this stems from short staffing and retention issues related to pay for medical staff,

nurses, and ancillary staff. Kaiser Permanente has seen a steady increase in membership year

over year and continues to expand and build more hospitals across the nation. Kaiser has faced

many legal challenges over the years with allegations of short-staffing purposely to save money.

Furthermore, a recent lawsuit has Kaiser Permanente agreeing to a $200 million settlement deal

with the state of California, including $50 million in fines, due to its behavioral health system

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experiencing lengthy delays to its patients (Ibarra,2023). These issues are not just a problem

among Kaiser as many other healthcare systems are experiencing similar challenges.

2) Describe your role in the organization (it can be an internal or external role).

Over the years I have worked with a few different healthcare organizations. I have spent

the last 9 years in my current organization, and I have seen the challenges firsthand that we

continue to experience today. I have worked as a nurse's aide, phlebotomist, and now as a patient

placement coordinator. This has allowed me to experience the healthcare system from all

aspects, further exploiting its flaws. As a nursing aide and phlebotomist, I experienced firsthand

the short-staffing crisis that was further exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even

today, recruiting healthcare workers has become a growing problem as wages are no longer

competitive with some healthcare and ancillary staffing working just above the state's minimum

wage. This has been a huge driving force for unions to stimulate the much-needed influx of

healthcare workers into the workforce. The short staffing has been attributed to an increase in

adverse events like increases in falls, delays in treatment, and even undergoing incorrect surgery

(Howell, 2023). As a patient placement coordinator, I experience the financial aspect of the

hospital system more than anything else. This has shown an unwillingness of insurance

companies to pay for treatments that are necessary for their clients. Some insurance companies,

as we may have experienced in the past, make people jump through hoops to get the treatment or

diagnosis that they need. Despite record revenue, profits, and an increase in premiums, insurance

companies continue to nickel and dime the consumers at will. I am often tasked with notifying

case managers of approvals but more often denials because of insurance limitations. Overall, I

feel that I have a solid understanding and foundation for my concerns within the healthcare

system.

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3) Describe the situation, including information you think will help the reader understand

the most important elements of the situation. (This will require selectivity: part of the art of

case writing is separating the essential facts from the mass of information that might be

included).

Healthcare organizations across the country are facing short staffing and retention issues.

This is a complex problem with many contributing factors such as organizational structure,

human resources, and even politics. These problems are dependent on how the organization

handles the decision-making process. Do they utilize a centralized approach or top-down

management style, or is there more bureaucracy at hand? Human resources can play a vital role

in exacerbating or solving this problem. The healthcare system can focus on creating a more

supportive and inclusive work environment and culture for all employees. This can lead to better

staffing which can minimize adverse patient events and aid in minimizing staff burnout. There

are numerous political reasons as to why these issues continue to thrive in our healthcare

systems. Major healthcare systems face scrutiny from many different stakeholders like unions,

corporate management, as well as from government oversight. How the healthcare system checks

and balances these interests is key to the ethical or unethical approach that they take to the

problem-resolution process. It is important to note that solving the problem of short staffing and

retention in healthcare will require a long-term commitment from healthcare organizations,

unions, and the government. This is a problem that needs to be addressed and cannot be pushed

aside for much longer. We need to make sure that our healthcare workers have the support and

resources they need to provide high-quality care to our patients.

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 References

Hollowell, A. (2023, April 4). Adverse events rose 19% in 2022, Joint Commission finds.

Becker’s Hospital Review. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/patient-safety-

outcomes/adverse-events-rose-19-in-2022-joint-commission-finds.html#:~:text=The

%20Joint%20Commission%20defines%20a,2021%2C%20according%20to%20the

%20report.

Hwang, K. (2023, October 17). Kaiser unions went on strike twice in 12 months. the latest

walkout led to a “historic” deal. CalMatters. https://calmatters.org/health/2023/10/kaiser-

permanente-union-strikes-california-contract/

Ibarra, A. B. (2023, October 13). Kaiser agrees to $200 million settlement over California

Mental Health Delays. CalMatters. https://calmatters.org/health/2023/10/kaiser-

permanente-california-behavioral-health-settlement/

Permanente, K. (2022, December 2). Our mission. Our Mission | Kaiser Permanente.

https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/who-we-are/our-mission#:~:text=Kaiser

%20Permanente%20exists%20to%20provide,providers%20and%20nonprofit%20health

%20plans.