COMP1511 Programming Fundamentals Report Sample

COMP1511 Programming Fundamentals

Identify a business that has undergone a major change in its operations (for example, a merger, acquisition, joint venture, expansion, turnaround, retrenchment, bankruptcy, or scandal). Evaluate the nature of this change and how effectively the organisation has responded or is responding to this change in the short and long term. Determine what important lessons can be learned from this experience. Students will have to demonstrate a practical application of business models covered during the course.

Please note: This assessment must be in an essay format and 2,500 words (approx.) in length.

Solution

1. Introduction

In this case, the business combination between UnitedHealth Group and LHC Group entails a synergistic plan to transform the healthcare industry through enhanced support systems and focused domains. UnitedHealth Group, known as a diversified healthcare company, and LHC Group, a specialized home health organization, signed an agreement to expand the continuum of care and counteract the tendencies toward the development of home-based healthcare services. This merger for MBA assignment expert aims to combine LHC Group home health, hospice, and long-term acute care with UnitedHealth’s diverse healthcare connections and assets (Awan, Arnold, and Gölgeci, 2020). The goal is the enhance the concept of personalized care that will be of greater value to the patients and more efficient in achieving the intended positive results while devouring fewer resources.

This process is permeated with numerous strategic, as well as logistic and operational questions. Whether it concerns the positioning of clinical work and organizational structures/environments, technology that could help improve their care, the employees and their needs, the benefits of the merger depend on proper management/implementation. Consequently, this merger operation has an impact on both companies, their business model, positioning, and their service deliveries (Chirico et al., 2019). It is only by fully comprehending exactly how the business has dealt with this change and what has been the aftermath that it is possible to get a comprehensive grasp of how effective the merger has been and what possible new prospects could be seen in the future.

2. Background of The Business

Figure 1: United Health Group and LHC group
Source: (Madden, 2023)

UnitedHealth Group is a Minnetonka, Minnesota-based healthcare company and one of the nation’s largest and most diversified healthcare companies. Established in 1977, UnitedHealth Group operates through two distinct platforms: The key components of this industry giant are UnitedHealthcare which offers healthcare benefits, and Optum which deals with healthcare services. It is a healthcare company with millions of customers worldwide the firm applies technology and data to provide quality healthcare services while containing costs. UnitedHealth Group has a vision of unity for better health where its work is directed towards improving the health of the people it serves and the way the health systems function (David, 2020). The company’s range of products and services for human health consists of health and medical benefits for employers, and their employees as well as medical benefits for individuals, Medicare and Medicaid, pharmacy benefits, as well as data insights.

This health insurance carrier is in health administration for individual purchase, employer, Medicare, and Medicaid markets. Whereas, Optum is a health services type of company that comprises OptumHealth, Optum Insight, and OptumRx. Some of their divisions include OptumHealth, in charge of health management and wellness; which gives information and analysis on health care and OptumRx, which deals with pharmacy care services (Eaton et al., 2021). Through these divisions, UnitedHealth Group caters to the whole cycle of healthcare, right from the basic level to the pharmaceutical level with the main goals of optimizing health and lessening costs. This strong network of healthcare practitioners and affiliations with other players in the value chain supports the healthcare organization’s quest for innovation and quality service delivery.

3. Event

The acquisition has a profound implication in the delivery of health care services, where the acquisition of LHC Group by UnitedHealth Group represents a conglomerate of a diversified health care company and a superior authorization in home health care services. UnitedHealth Group’s strategic action plan of acquiring Sierra integrates smoothly into the company’s focus on seamless patient care from prevention to treatment or management of illness or injury. In the short term, UnitedHealth Group has been able to use LHC Group’s home health and hospice care provision specialty to diversify its services in response to the growing market for home-based care. The integration has also brought about better patient outcomes such as low rates of re-admissions in hospitals and better patient care methods delivered at the comfort of the patients’ homes (Awan, Arnold and Gölgeci, 2020). Also, UnitedHealth Group has developed capacity in application of technology and data analytics in enhancing care coordination and other operational factors that support Home care healthcare services delivery to meet patients’ needs.

In the long run, the merger is expected to produce added Sir Henry Kirkadikey stock that will prepare the healthcare organization to address new healthcare issues and market conditions. Such a partnership is beneficial for UnitedHealth Group due to its large network and significant financial capital LHC Group’s specialized expertise in home health services helps the organization grow and diversify its services. This strategic alignment is expected to unlock long-run growth by focusing on the ongoing trend of providing care at home due to a growing elderly population and technological improvements in healthcare. LHC Group’s focus on value-based care models and efforts to tailor strategies to best serve the patient will prove complementary to UnitedHealth Group’s goals. This symbiosis is expected to improve care archetypes that deal with preventive care and chronic illnesses, hence working to lower total healthcare expenses. It also has synergies for cross-selling and new market penetration from the size of the UnitedHealth Group and LHC Group’s operation experience. In general, the validity of UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of LHC Group could be regarded as respecting the trend and innovation of healthcare improvements (Gautier and Lamesch, 2020). In the short run, there are apparent signs that the organization has been strategic, timely, and committed to integrating operations, investing in technological applications, and achieving and maintaining set standards of patient care.

4. How The Business Managed The Event

• Strategic Vision and Integration

UnitedHealth Group’s rationale for merging with LHC Group was to have a systemic change in how services would be delivered to the consumers and deepen the offering of home health services. This vision was based on the premise of increasing the availability of quality and relatively inexpensive solutions in healthcare for the elderly and patients with chronic diseases. UnitedHealth Group saw the increasing trend towards home-based care and appreciated the fact that LHC Group’s experience and presence would add considerable strength to its position in this area. The strategic integration plan meant positioning LHC Group’s services to fit within UnitedHealth’s Optum arm of the company, such that home health services formed the bowels of what the firm does (Geissdoerfer et al., 2020). This alignment was intended to promote integration of care across various settings; improve health outcomes of patients; and contain the total cost of healthcare delivery.

• Logistical Operations and Implementation

As the process of merging business entities, they had to develop a detailed plan to avoid any organizational problems with the smooth operations after the merger. UnitedHealth Group set up specific coordinating committees in the integration process of the acquisition and ensured that patient, as well as employee experience, were not disrupted. Some of the important business transformations were IT platform integration, patient records synchronization, and administrative workflow unification. The company committed a lot of resources to technology for such changes so that information from LHC Group operation could integrate into UnitedHealth’s system seamlessly. Further, attempts were made to establish the unity of clinical services from both organizations, thus ensuring that the care that those patients received was homogeneous (Vanwye and Lunsford, 2023). UnitedHealth Group also aimed at establishing training and support strategies to ensure the LHC Group’s employees would adopt the new organizational operation and culture as much as possible.

• Communication and Stakeholder Engagement

Communication and stakeholder relations were considered important elements of managing mergers. Stakeholder communication was an important factor in the UnitedHealth Group’s approach; these affected employees, patients, investors, and regulatory authorities. There were daily and weekly meetings held so all would be aware of the status and the impact of the merger. To ensure that UnitedHealth Group employees would be receptive to the change, the company scheduled town hall meetings, training sessions, and support resources to deal with employees’ concerns and manage the transition (Palepu et al., 2020). Other measures focused on communication with patients through information sharing to embrace them regarding the availability of care to them and quality.

5. Outcomes

Impact on UnitedHealth Group

In the case of UnitedHealth Group, it has helped shape the strategic direction of offering a holistic healthcare solutions portfolio. By acquiring LHC Group home health services United is enhancing the Optum division of United by providing a full cycle of the healthcare continuum. This new competency has proven to positively respond to health issues by improving patient outcomes depending on the care received from different settings ranging from hospitals to their homes. It also expanded new sources of revenue for UnitedHealth and thus strengthened its position in the newly growing segment of home healthcare services (Palepu et al., 2020). Also, it has placed UnitedHealth strategically to take advantage of value-based care where organizations are reimbursed based on patients’ outcomes leading to more growth and sustainability.

Impact on LHC Group

The experience has greatly affected LHC Group in which the merger has offered the corporation everything that is required to expand its services and improve service provision. In belonging to a large group, the LHC group has benefited from technology, analytics, and financial features that were out of its reach individually. This access has helped LHC Group to become operationally efficient and spread geographically to attend to more patients’ needs and communities. It has also enabled the organization to share the best practices as well as clinical experience to increase the quality of services offered to the patients (Awan, Arnold and Gölgeci, 2020). Also, with the acquisition of a favorable strategic position in the consolidated supplier and payer market, LHC Group has enhanced its market power and negotiations with the suppliers and payers, as well as improved its financial indicators.

Reasons for the Impact

The following are some of the factors that have contributed to the favorable results of the merger of UnitedHealth Group and LHC Group. Firstly, the mission and objectives of both entities are congruent, and the cooperation has proven itself to be successful because both organizations are aimed at providing the highest quality of patient-centered care. Secondly, there is the issue of compatibility of the services they offer, where the one provided by one firm can easily complement/pass on the need for the other provided by the other firm thus improving operational efficiency and coordination of care. The strong foundation that UnitedHealth has given LHC Group to build upon has given the company the resources necessary to both grow and create new services (B. Rajesh Kumar, 2024). The expansion in the requirement for home healthcare due to increased longevity and the development of sophisticated tools has added to the market possibilities for the merged corporation. In addition, it has enabled both organizations to have a better understanding of the dynamics involved in healthcare covering areas such as alterations in the healthcare legislation and transitions to value-based healthcare systems for their future success.

6. Recommendations

Strengthen Integration and Coordination

So, UnitedHealth Group and LHC Group stakeholders should focus on the effective integration between the organizations’ operations to gain the most from the merger. This entails the synchronizing of clinical processes, modifying health care practices, and facilitating collaboration between home health services and other care environments provided by UnitedHealth.’ Improved strategies in Integration plans like adopting one electronic health record and other care teams will increase the patient’s outcome and improve the system. There is no option of avoiding proper IT systems that can enable proper Integrated systems that allow for real-time data exchange (GHOSH, 2022). In the organizations’ contexts, the key approach to the improvement of collaboration involved the integration of operation processes and the establishment of the organization’s culture, which in turn provides the continuity of patient care, minimizes the possibility of duplicative activities and enhances particular patient care experiences.

Improve Staff Development

Since the merger exists in both organizations, it requires developing additional effective training and support programs for the employees. The last recommendation that UnitedHealth Group should offer is cafeteria plans that will enable it to provide specific training to LHC Group’s staff regarding the company’s systems, culture, and operational procedures. This will assist in retaining positive levels of extension of care and reducing complications arising from transition. Creativity can be encouraged through continued learning thus provision of professional development would enable the employees to embrace new changes in technologies. Another aspect will be to ensure that any apprehensions are dealt with while at the same time ensuring that the employees have adequate channels of communication and support mechanisms to ensure that they can handle the changes Within the organization (B. Rajesh Kumar, 2024). Measures such as training needed to support integration can be viewed as an investment today because it will not only lead to a successful integration but also a high job satisfaction and retention rate among the employees.

Focus on Patient-Centered Care

From the identified strategies, the two organizations need to reorient patient care as the main focus of the merged entity. It requires an understanding of all those patients who qualify for home health services and their individual choices and medical conditions’ needs according to their home health plan. To this end, the organizations should capture, for instance, through surveys or focus group discussions, patient views and use the information so produced to transform the delivery of health service. Adhering to differentiated care planning and improving the patient’s involvement through education and support will also improve the health condition of the patients hence improving their satisfaction (González-Torres et al., 2020). In this regard, the integration of PCC will also enhance the organization’s reputation as well as fulfill the industry shift towards value-based care.

Leverage Data and Analytics for Continuous Improvement

Data and analytics would play a significant role in the process of change management and, therefore, proactive post-merger improvement. Therefore, UnitedHealth Group should utilize this data for the firm’s operations as well as LHC Group’s services for evaluating performance and making necessary changes to the provision of care. The utilization of agency superior analytics tools shall assist in monitoring appropriate indicators including; outcomes of the patient, the operations of the company, and the costs incurred. Evidence-based information can help develop business and clinical strategies, facilitate the management of patient care, and determine organizational efficiencies. Also, expanding funding of research to consider new forms of care delivery and related technologies would help continually advance and apply new knowledge for current and future healthcare requirements (Chaudhuri et al., 2021). Thus, as an outcome, the aspirations of the organization can be achieved by improving capabilities through the analysis of data and knowledge to improve efficiency and sustain the organization’s competitive advantage in the healthcare environment.

8. Conclusion

United merger between UnitedHealth Group and LHC Group is viewed as a major step forward in developing and improving healthcare services. By emphasizing the need to integrate two entities, improve support for employees, prioritize patients, utilize big data, and more, the entity enables optimization of its operations and patients’ conditions. The successful integration and partnership of these organizations will promote care coordination leading to the delivery of a more holistic care model along with accommodating the increasing number of home-based service needs and encouraging idea development. The following are strategic recommendations that will be useful for the actualization of the expected synergy upon the merger of UnitedHealth Group and LHC Group. The rollout of these strategic suggestions will optimize for sustainable gains and place UnitedHealth Group and LHC Group as key players in the emerging healthcare market.

References

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