Seminar B1: Merging in pursuit of excellence – does it really work?

Linked to EAHP Statements:
Section 1: Introductory Statements and Governance
Section 5: Patient Safety and Quality Assurance

ACPE UAN: 0475-0000-17-016-L04-P. A knowledge based activity.

Abstract

Mergers among hospitals and healthcare organisations have been on the rise for several years now. The new healthcare organisation is then expected in theory to improve efficiency, access to care, and quality of care, and may lower costs.

During a merger, no part of an organisation is immune from change. The challenges for hospital pharmacist emerge in every area and function (i) at the collective level, in terms of culture, behaviours, priorities, outcomes (ii) at the individual level, the organisational changes may lead to job restructuring, layoffs, and changes in the administration of patient care. Pharmacy staff facing a merger may feel stressed, feared, and uncertain.

When a merger occurs there are a few issues any manager should address:

• Are the outcomes well defined and understood in the new context?
• Are the behaviours clear in terms of the culture of the parties involved in the deal and the culture necessary to deliver the post-deal outcomes?
• Are the drivers of the desired behaviours well understood, prioritised and designed appropriately?
• Is there an effective change-management program planned?

This seminar will present and discuss the issues and outcomes of merging organisation with the views of Medical Director and a chief-pharmacist.

Learning objectives

After the seminar, the participant should be able to:
• explain the short and long term issues of merging organisations;
• describe the organisational changes for pharmacists.

Keywords: merging hospitals, centralisation versus HP jobs, outsourcing, network hospitals

* No conflict of interest has been declared.