Medical Records Department

In this particular case, namely ‘Oops is not an Option’, the activities being conducted are steered by both the staff and external legal personnel. The activity involves a typical form of commerce arrangement in the sense that the parties enrolled benefit from each other. Currently, there are only two parties involved including Bill Salamander, a very popular consultant who is working with the medical records department of the medical center, and Anna Anywaican, who is a personal injury attorney. The arrangement between the two stipulates that Bill Salamander supplies Anna Anywaican with the patients’ information concerning their traumas so that she helps them settle the injury matters with the Health cover while Bill receives a 10 % share of her income. The activity goes on for a while until a challenge emerges, which limits Bill from assessing a vast amount of data required. It is evident that the amount of data collected was not sufficient and Bill is now on a mission to recruit a third party, which will help him get the patients information first hand. The key points in this case are that there is an initial arrangement involving two people - a medical records personnel member and a personal injury attorney. They commence with the arrangement until the limited patients’ information seems to barricade their activity and that is when they decide to recruit Micah to assist with the provision of more information from the Emergency Room, as he has access to the trauma patients’ database. The setting of the organization is arranged in such a way that the patients’ information is only conveyed to the post-records department after being assimilated in the database as soon as the patients are admitted. This means that Bill can only have access to trauma patients’ information after it has already been uploaded into the database by personnel from the database administrator department.

My Role in the Case

In this particular case, I decide to take the role of an External Consultant, who has been approached by the medical institution to advise the local management of the underlying facts within the case under study.

Major Problems and Secondary Issues

The major problem arising out of this case-scenario basically regards the ethics of the employees working within the organization as a whole. It is truly evident that some employees do not act in accordance with the policies, rules and regulations of the medical center. It is common knowledge that all medical-related organizations, especially hospitals and clinics, adopt stringent measures when it comes to the patients’ information exposure. It is against the rules of any medical healthcare center to unveil the data regarding the patients without their respective consent. Thus, it is a breach of contract when this information leaks to external sources. The secondary issues underlying this particular case study involve both the employer and the patient.  These involve the employer because the network of employees being recruited, who tend to practice unethical activities, is quite alarming and is increasing steadily. The employer should be on guard since with time the medical center will be filled with a horde of such untrustworthy employees. Their activities have a negative impact on the image of the organization and can taint its reputation. This case involves the patients in the sense that they can sue the establishment’s authorities for the breaching of contract regarding the exposure of confidential information.

The causes of employees engaging into this form of behavior might be out of the mere reason that they are not completely satisfied by the job in terms of welfare or, perhaps, by wages. It is wise to indicate that the employees frequently participate in unethical activities when they feel that they are underestimated and, thus, cannot experience career advancement. Anna Anywaican must have observed this loophole and tried to use it to her own advantage. The fact that Bill receives substantial sums of money by only providing data is a clear indication that the employees are succumbing to the financial pressure altogether. It is also quite true to state that as Micah, I will definitely involve myself in this arrangement, since it does not require a complex level of commitment. The task at hand is easily executable.

The main difference between the major issue and secondary issues is basically in their respective timing in sense that the major issue is happening at the moment and is continuing to happen while secondary issues are a little behind the schedule, but with time they are going to be matured and exposed, harming the organization greatly. In my opinion, I would  have done the same thing given a chance, since money offered is quite motivating and attractive in that matter. While we have already analyzed the causes of the issues involved, it will be wise to stipulate the resultant effects altogether. Firstly, it is rather discouraging that the employees are undertaking such actions, since this may lead to the organization being closed down, especially when the patient finds out about the ill-motives attributed with some of the medical personnel. In cases whereby patients comprehend the fact that their personal details are availed to third parties without their full consent, they will  seek legal justice and sue the medical center as an institution. Such court cases, which will undoubtfully be resolved in favor of the patients, will oblige the organization to pay them colossal sums of money as moral compensation, which may, in turn, affect the capital structure of the whole organization. If the case becomes publicly known, it will then mean the organization will end up closing down and remain out of business as its clients will have lost trust they once had with the medical center. Loss of patients means that the objectives of the organization become unachievable and, as a result, may terminate its operations altogether.

Alternatives and Solutions

There exist many alternatives for dealing with situations like this. For instance, the management may decide to eliminate, by means of firing, all those concerned with the unethical activity, as soon as their intentions are revealed, and replace them with competent reliable employees that have undergone a satisfactory vetting process. As much as this alternative is considered to be far more effective, I do not think that it will enhance the rapport between the management and the rest of the staff. This phenomenon leads us to yet another alternative, which involves the workshops and seminars creation whereby the staff are enlightened and reminded of the commitments which they have before the medical center and its clients while conducting service. In these workshops, the employees will also be coached on how to handle external forms of influence. The third alternative might involve the reshuffling of the employees so that they are appointed on totally new posts. This alternative is also encouraged since it terminates the ties employees created while working in their initial departments. Such reshuffling process is expected to be conducted periodically in order to eliminate the underlying issue. Personally, I reckon this form of solution befits the case under study. As much as it is somehow expensive to maintain, the management will be forced to embrace it altogether. The local management may initiate the reshuffling activity and, in turn, delegate the responsibility to the immediate managers, but under their (senior management) supervision. The steps involved hereby postulate that the immediate managers choose those employees who fit into diverse positions since they (immediate mangers) fully realize the potential of employees working in the medical center. The principal aim of the reshuffling process, conducted by the senior management, is to ensure that the activity does not entail elements of unfairness and corruption in the long run.

Evaluation

According to the discussion above, I mentioned and recommended an alternative solution, which entails reshuffling of employees as the best form of dealing with unethical behavior, since it increases the efficiencies needed altogether. The reason for embarking on this form of solution is due to the fact that the employees’ performance level is measurable and, therefore, can be used to eliminate the inefficient employees within the system. As effective management conducts itself when measuring the employees’ performance, it will be wise for the local management to postulate the targets and then let the employees strive to achieve them. This alternative is rather efficient because employees will feel engaged in the steps taken to achieve the overall objective of the organization as a whole.