Health Care Management Case Studies

Case studies are widely used as learning devices in the education of health care managers and administrators. Case studies are taken from health care management situations and experiences in the real world and are written for students of management to analyze and resolve. They require the student to think, reason, develop critical thinking skills and analytic skills, identify underlying causes of problems, use creative abilities, make decisions and deal with personality conflicts and change. You are expected to use the following guidelines for case studies.

- Read the case carefully several times. Become absorbed in the situation in such a way that you see yourself intimately involved with the personalities, problems and conflicts.
- Decide what role you wish to play: the chief administrator in the case who must deal with the matter; or an outside management consultant who has been called in to advise top management on what to do.
- Determine what the major problem is -- the real problem.
- Identify secondary and other problems.
- Analyze the factors behind the major and secondary problems. Apply reasoning to how and why the problems developed. Always answer the question WHY?
- Decide what actions you would take. Prepare a written report of the case using the following format.

1. Background statement:

What are the key points? Summarize the scenario in your own words without rewriting the case. Briefly describe the organization, setting, situation, who is involved, who decides what, etc.

2. Identify your role:

Declare whether you are the Chief Administrator in the case or an Outside Consultant called in to advise. Regardless of your choice you MUST justify in writing WHY you chose that role. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each role?

3. Identification of diversity issues and their impact in this case:

How do matters of race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, religion, and/or disability appear in this case and what impact might they have on this case? Be sure to include diversity issues in each section of the case study, identifying how they relate to Major problems and secondary issues, Organizational strengths and weaknesses, Alternatives and Resolutions, and Evaluation.
Most of the case studies in the text do not clearly identify a diversity issue. This is where you can embellish, think outside of the box, and put yourself in the situation and what diversity factors could be in the scenario.

4. Major problems and secondary issue:

Specifically identify the major and secondary problems. What are the real issues? What are the differences? Can secondary issues become major problems? Analyze the causes and effect. What is your analysis of the case? While we only know what the case tells us, we need to think about underlying motivators while we read. Fully explain your reasoning.

5. Organizational strengths and weaknesses:

What are their strengths and weaknesses? How are they positioned in the marketplace? What strengths do they bring to the situation? What weaknesses do they need to address? This section can mirror, but should not be identical to the previous section.

6. Alternatives and Resolution:

What alternatives do they have available to them? Were there possibilities not suggested by the text? What feasible strategies would you recommend? What are the pros and cons? The best choice may not be affordable; as managers we have to "satisfice" and make the best choice available at that time. State what should be done--why, how, and by whom. Specify the actions, steps and recommendations. Make sure these are measurable goals.

7. Evaluation:

How will you know when you've gotten there? There must be measurable goals put in place with the recommendations. If you want to increase satisfaction, how will you measure it?
Money is easiest to measure; what else can be measured? What evaluation plan would you have them put in place to enable them to assess if they are reaching their goals? How will you monitor and control?