External Healthcare Environment on Organizational Outcomes: Mayo Clinic

The Mayo clinic draws diverse clients from within and outside the United States. This means that the clinic deals with significant volumes of patient data. The protection of patient data is among the measures indicating that a healthcare provider is offering a high standard of care to its patients (McCarthy, Mueller & Wrenn, 2009). For instance, the hospital caters to patients that require intensive, personalized care for various conditions (MFMER, 2019). The protection of patient and other data is crucial to the operations of institutions such as the Mayo clinic. In addition to the contact Mayo clinic caregivers have with their patients, the hospital also corresponds with its patients through a well-developed online and smart device applications (McCarty et al., 2009). Secure networks to transmit data are therefore vital to the clinic’s operations.

The supply chains of healthcare institutions are typically complex as they are fragmented and comprise of both the acquisition and disposal of various goods and services. For example, the Mayo clinic sources for various products and services from a number of vetted vendors, with Apple Inc. and Google being a case in point. Using Apple and Google’s platforms, the Mayo clinic has configured access to its various services, easing informational needs for its staff, patients and stakeholders. The clinic’s other stakeholders include insurance vendors, medical equipment and supplies, and accredited regulatory compliance entities. The increasing use of cloud storage solutions are vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Information stored on clouds is readily accessible, a characteristic that is both a strong point and a weakness for those using the services.

Securing healthcare related finances is also important for healthcare providers and support industries such as insurance providers. Banking institutions play a major role in facilitating health related financial transactions. These variables highlight the importance of cybersecurity given the role of information technologies in present day financial transactions. Further, legislation such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) require that healthcare and medical insurance providers secure patient data, including financial information (Murry, Calhoun & Phillipsen, 2011; Kowalski, 2014). Cyber security is also important in the functioning of the healthcare providers’ administrative functions. In this respect, the Mayo clinic collaborates directly with some of its suppliers, particularly information technology vendors such as Apple, to maintain user friendly and secure applications to enhance the quality of services for both its staff and patients.

Although the Mayo Clinic is a leading healthcare provider in the Rochester area of Minnesota, it faces growing competition from existing providers such as the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Like its competitors, the extent to which the clinic secures it patient records is important to its reputation. Cyber security has become important in attracting and retaining customers. 

Cyber security also facilitates collaborations between healthcare providers and other industry actors. The security of propriety information that the Mayo Clinic has generated over the decades of its existence illustrates the importance of ensuring the safety of information from external attacks. Presently, the Mayo Clinic collaborates with actors across diverse areas such as molecular imaging, bio-therapeutics, software engineering and clinical genomics to bring industry-distrupting healthcare solutions to the market (Noseworthy, 2018). 

The security of patient information is an important aspect of Mayo clinic’s collaborations with stakeholders and strategic partners. Cyber security also plays a pivotal role in investments such as Mayo clinic’s proton beam therapy project (Baier, 2019). Robust security measures ensure the insulation of expensive equipment and laboratories from external cyber-attacks. Importantly, secure hospital systems ensure minimal interruptions to hospital operations. Cyber security remains an import part of Mayo clinic’s system accountability in addition to other quality measures such as peer reviews the ensure the clinic offers a high care value matrix (McCarthy et al., 2009; MFMER, 2019). Mayo clinic’s efforts to improve healthcare take into account legislation such as the HIPPA and HITECH that regulate the conduct of caregivers as well as the confidentiality of medical data (Murry, Calhoun & Phillipsen, 2011). Importantly, extant regulations prescribe rigorous cyber security measures to protect patient data. 

References

Baier, E. (2019). How does Mayo stack up against its competitors? Minnesota Public Radio News Retrieved from https://www.mprnews.org/story/2013/03/01/health/mayo-competition

Kowalski, A. E. (2014). The early impact of the Affordable Care Act state-by-state. National Bureau of Economic Research No. w20597 Retrieved from https://www.nber.org/papers/w20597 

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER) (2019). Disease and conditions. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions

McCarthy, D., Mueller, K., & Wrenn, J. (2009). Mayo Clinic: multidisciplinary teamwork, physician-led governance, and patient-centered culture drive world-class health care. New York: Commonwealth Fund pub. 136, 7.

Murray, T. L., Calhoun, M., & Philipsen, N. C. (2011). Privacy, confidentiality, HIPAA, and HITECH: implications for the health care practitioner. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 7(9), 747-752. 

Noseworthy, J. (2018). Why unlikely partnerships will spark the healthcare revolution. CNBC.com Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/27/mayo-clinic-uncommon-alliances-will-spur-health-care-revolution.html