The process of reaching a consensus in terms of a specific setting has now become one of the most crucial notions in the context of management and enterprise development. Previously, the decision-making was the responsibility of the top management, creating a rather authoritative approach to the concept. Thus, it was then emphasized that reaching a certain decision should be a collective effort, considering every possible point of view. Although it goes without saying that paying attention to the opinion of the vast majority is crucial in terms of basic democracy, the patterns of reaching the outcome beneficial for everyone seems barely achievable considering the variety of today’s attitudes. Among all the existing fields requiring efficient decision-making, healthcare has become one of the most demanding, as the outcomes of its decision are directly affecting human lives and their potential health conditions.
When it comes to the decision-making process in healthcare, it should be outlined that the very approach to its formation should be closely correlated with the concept of human dignity and ethics as part of the outcome. When pondering a decision, many enterprises place emphasis on the measurable results of the operation, while healthcare’s approach should encompass both qualitative and quantitative positive feedback (Janseen et al., 2017). According to the researchers, one of the most significant aspects of ethical decision-making is acknowledging the fact that a certain issue is directly tackling an individual from an ethical point of view (Chen et al., 2020). Thus, in order to define the most beneficial aspects in terms of the healthcare decision-making process, it is necessary to contrast some of the most widespread models of consensus reaching and organizational theories. In such a way, it will be possible to define the potential issue outcome, which is able to unite people’s ideas without violating any of the individual peculiarities.
Having work experience in the field of supplying medical equipment to the healthcare facilities, one might mention that some of the major issues concerning the decision-making process include establishing a proper price policy and developing the right strategy for choosing long-term partnerships. Thus, today’s healthcare market has become one of the leading contributors to the US gross domestic product (GDP) rate, urging the manufacturers to introduce more cost-efficient and quality products (Kwon et al., 2016). In order to achieve such an outcome, healthcare supply chain management leaders are to develop a scheme of both production and marketing tools that would satisfy the needs of customers and employees.
The models for decision-making are changing rapidly, depending on the external factors surrounding the issue. When speaking of the US healthcare supply context, it is widely known that the overall stability in terms of healthcare funding, governmental support, and market competition levels are the weak spots of the state administrative branch. Thus, the only way to remain relevant in the healthcare supply chain is to establish an agile framework of service introduction, which would be able to respond quickly to the field’s modifications. Moreover, it is of paramount importance to develop the skill of forecasting a potential outcome in order to secure minimum losses for both the enterprise and the customer.
A prime example of such a beneficial approach to the healthcare supply chain organization is the explicit use of evidence-based management and problem-solving in general. The primary basis of this model consists of the extensive collection of the primary data and evidence related to the issue in order to define some regularities that might be implemented into the process (Guo et al., 2017). Quite frequently, healthcare managers tend to estimate the barely desirable outcome of the issue in order to draw the attention of the public and gain immediate support. However, once it is evident that the implied model has no application in the near future, the enterprise immediately loses public respect and healthcare professionals’ trust whatsoever. Thus, today’s focus in terms of decision-making should be placed on the measurable outcome of the issue, addressing the existing qualitative and quantitative data.
Another model of decision-making worth mentioning and implementing into the healthcare supply chain management is the concept of shared decision-making. The idea has two major meanings and stands for either healthcare professionals’ intervention in the patients’ decision-making process or their contribution to the facility’s organizational management (Légaré et al., 2018). In terms of the present issue, tackling the process of the equipment supply management, only the latter definition of the phenomenon should be considered, implying the importance of active participation in the decision-making process. It is often the case with healthcare management that the leaders do not have to be directly engaged with the equipment they choose for the staff, making the major emphasis on cost efficiency. As a result, the overall service quality has considerably deteriorated, decreasing the staff’s job satisfaction as well.
Taking into consideration, it might be concluded that today’s variety of choices makes decision-makers consider many aspects before reaching a conclusion. Thus, in order to assist the leaders during the process and encourage them to settle for the best option would be of paramount significance to the overall outcome, increasing the qualitative product satisfaction. In the context of medical equipment supply management, it is of crucial importance to implement evidence-based and shared models of decision-making and organization.
References
Chen, A., Treviño, L. K., & Humphrey, S. E. (2020). Ethical champions, emotions, framing, and team ethical decision making. Journal of Applied Psychology, 105(3), 245.
Guo, R., Berkshire, S. D., Fulton, L. V., & Hermanson, P. M. (2017). Use of evidence-based management in healthcare administration decision-making. Leadership in Health Services.
Janssen, M., van der Voort, H., & Wahyudi, A. (2017). Factors influencing big data decision-making quality. Journal of Business Research, 70, 338-345.
Kwon, I. W. G., Kim, S. H., & Martin, D. G. (2016). Healthcare supply chain management; strategic areas for quality and financial improvement. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 113, 422-428.
Légaré, F., Adekpedjou, R., Stacey, D., Turcotte, S., Kryworuchko, J., Graham, I. D., Lyddiatt, A., Politi, M. C., Thomson, R., Elwyn, G., & Donner‐Banzhoff, N. (2018). Interventions for increasing the use of shared decision making by healthcare professionals. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (7).