Every individual and group in the organisation contributes to the realisation of the organization’s goals, but none is able to realise them alone without working with others.
Because of the division of labour and specialisation of functions, the hospitals can achieve its objectives only if their parts are coordinated into a cohesive whole.
Thus, coordination is basic to practice of management at all levels, and pervades all functions in hospital administration.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Because of the need for understanding the fundamentals about this very important, but often ill-defined aspect, the same is dealt with in more detail below.
The role of hospital administrator in this regard becomes that of a coordinator, a facilitator.
A hospital is a crisis place, a trauma place, a place where people of all types come to seek relief, a place which is open at all times of day and night, and a place where technology and common services are put to use through people who vary from highly skilled consultant to unskilled workers of menial staff.
The work of the hospital is thus characterised by the following:
ADVERTISEMENTS:
i. Heterogeneous groups of workers
ii. Specialisation
iii. Complex interrelationship
iv. Group work: individual merit is not noted
ADVERTISEMENTS:
v. Crisis orientation
vi. Round the clock functioning
vii. Objectives not clear, results not quantifiable
viii. Exhibits both authoritative and participative pattern of leadership
ix. Patients cannot express their needs.
Optimum performance in the hospitals cannot be achieved by each unit carrying out its role in isolation. Good aggregate result and outcomes is a product of a number of independent decisions. Trying to be “one-up” among departments and specialists which is not unusual in hospitals, can result in a disturbance in the system’s balance.
Image Source : richhospitals.com