Head doctor nowadays is a top-end professional in his specialty, indicated in his diploma. He is an organizer of healthcare who has obtained knowledge and skills via trial and error method, he is a self-taught lawyer, psychologist in his nature. Recommendations on improving work of head doctors are directed towards informatization, economic aspects of activity, improvements in dental care quality, automatization, training specialists in basics of planning-economic and financial activity of a dental policlinic, order of executing economic and labour contracts.
Introducing new forms of organizing treatment-preventive care of population, obligatory and voluntary medical insurance, provision of paid services to legal and physical bodies has broaden official duties and the range of organization-management activity of head doctors in treatment-preventive institutions. These conditions initiate the necessity to re-direct function range of these specialists towards facilitating the totality of modern operative management methods that allow one to establish economic reasonability and the proper quality of dental care.
The goal of this research is to develop measures on improving work organization for head doctors of dental policlinic departments.
According to this goal, we have questioned 124 head doctors of Moscow and Moscow region dental policlinic departments with special cards, developed by us.
Research results. Qualification characteristics of jobs in healthcare sector provide for a correct selection and distribution of staff (order of the Ministry of medical and social development of RF dd. 23.07.2010 № 541N «On assertion of the Single qualification reference book of positions of managers, specialists, and employees, part «Qualification characteristics of jobs in healthcare sector»).
The need of dental policlinics for high-qualified head doctors is formed under the influence of the following basic factors:
- The necessity of continuous refreshment of professional knowledge;
- An increase in work efficiency;
- Introduction of new technologies;
- Increase in quality of the provided services;
- Increase in patients’ strictness towards quality of medical care services.
Structure of time, spent on carrying out prior management functions by these specialists, has the following characteristic: «control» 61,48 ± 0,14 % of total working time, «coordination» – 15,20 ± 0,11 % , «organization» 11,55 ± 0,11 %.
70,69 % of a head doctor’s functions are a subject of algorithmization, and 29,31 % – 166,38 minutes of a business day are not suitable for algorithmization. Reasons of professional functions’ algorithmization impossibility are defined by the very nature of dental policlinic, as it is considered by modern management science as a complex open system, described by the phenomenon, called equifinality.
Planning of training and increase in personnel qualification is based upon the analysis of strategic problems that lie before a dental policlinic, necessity to train staff according to recommendation of the implemented procedures (evaluation of a worker’s activity, attestation, work with staff reserve), and plans of professional development of workers in structural divisions. Team work and collaboration implies an efficient delegation of powers, involving other employees into achieving the set objectives, and organization of a group work so that combination of these efforts leads to a synergetic effect. This effect makes collective efforts ten times more efficient than simply adding results of the same number of employees, working separately. Apart from administrative skills, a head doctor should also be able to increase team spirit and moral condition of a group, prevent and solve all possible conflicts efficiently.
As we know, a head doctor has to remember his key arrangements, meetings, and assignments, find the necessary information quickly on the everyday basis apart from carrying out a great number of other problems. However, only 13,71 % of the respondents consider the information, available to them, sufficient to make a decision. Information is considered to be the main management resource the process of exchanging information is called «communication». Communication is a process, through which an idea is transferred from its source to a recipient in order to alter behavior of the former.
Nowadays informational systems, multi-functional program complexes, aimed to automatize accounting and management in a policlinic, are being developed in priority. Facilitating such programmes allows us to solve such problems as:
- Maintenance of patients’ files and digital medical card.
- Maintenance of a single database for a policlinic with branched department structure.
- Automatization of reception work – broader set of functions.
- Maintenance of document circulation with insurance companies and enterprises: contracts, payments, insurance programmes, formation of reports.
- An operative analysis and control of a policlinic’s activity.
- Stock materials accounting.
- Accounting of teeth-technical laboratory operations.
- Statistic and medical reporting.
- Analysis of a dental policlinic work efficiency.
However, only 5,79 % of head doctors use an automated system of analyzing department activity. We should outline that all policlinics maintain a monthly automated report of services and their costs according to OMC program. Also, annual report in dynamics of these indexes is provided only in 2–3 policlinics that are a school of foremost experience.
Scheme «Improving work of head doctors in dental policlinics»
Training head doctors in organizing healthcare and social health is required. Final evaluation of knowledge in the area of management competences equals 40,8 %, this value testifies for significant deficiencies in basics of planning-economic and financial activity of dental policlinics, order of carrying out economic and labour contracts.
In order to achieve success, one has to realize his present condition, see his goal, understand methods of achieving it, and move towards the goal. Generally, we can define requirements that a head doctor of a department should meet. These requirements are defined through professionally-important qualities that we define as individual qualities of an activity subject that influence efficiency of his activity and successfulness of mastering it. An answer for the question of qualities that a head doctor should possess, has suffered a significant evolution during the development of the theory of management. According to management activity of a head doctor we can outline the following professionally-important qualities: a skill to select and distribute employees, plan working process, provide a clear control, make decisions. Organization qualities are the result of displaying a number of psychological traits of a person. At this level intellectual qualities of a head doctor serve as basics of his development. An intellect can or cannot serve as a factor of successfulness of a head doctor depending on what management resources, intellectual or competence, are introduced into his activity.
Many years of practical experience and modern scientific researches in the area of management prove that a leader’s successfulness is defined by a whole complex of characteristics that he has to possess apart from knowledge. Head doctor nowadays is a top-end professional in his specialty, indicated in his diploma, he is an organizer of healthcare who has obtained knowledge and skills via trial and error method, he is a self-taught lawyer, psychologist in his nature.
The work was submitted to International Scientific Conference «Present-day problems of science and education», Russia (Moscow), February, 25-27, 2013, came to the editorial office 29.05.2013.