The Veterans Health Administration

Paper Summary:

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA), of the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), manages the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States (U.S.). In 2006, 5.5 million qualified veterans received care from at least one of the 1,400 VHA operated sites within the United States (Department Of Veteran Affairs, 2007). This paper describes the organizational structure, design, function and processes of the VHA. The paper also reviews the VHA's culture, communication style and barriers, decision making processes, including the values and ethics, and leadership styles. Additionally, a current environmental change affecting the VHA is presented with corresponding leadership behaviors.

Outline:
Organizational Design
Organizational Structure and Process
Organizational Culture
Leadership Styles
Organizational Communication
Communication Barrier
Organizational Decision Making
Environmental Changes
Problems with Environmental Changes
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The VHA contains 23 separate Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISN), which are comprised of over 1,400 healthcare facilities. Each VISN is composed of many different facilities ranging from Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC) to full service medical centers (Department Of Veteran Affairs, 2007). The VHA's organizational process is a vertical hierarchy that is departmentalized in structure. Organizational directives descend through the vertical hierarchy from the VA to the department level within each VHA facility. Relevant information and results are sent backup through the hierarchy to help guild upper management on future directives."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Business Dictionary. (2007). Organizational Design. Retrieved November 26, 2007, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/organizational-design,html.
• Clark, M., Bair, M., Buckenmaier, C., Gironda, R., & Walker, R. (2007). Pain and combat injuries in soldiers returing from operations enduring freedom and Iraq freedom: Implications for research and practice. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 44, 179-194. Retrieved December 8, 2007, from EBSCOhost database.
• Coomer, K. (2007). Corporate cultures. Occupational Health, 54, 28-30. Retrieved December 8, 2007, from the Academic Search Premier database.
• Department Of Veteran Affairs. (2007). Fast Facts. Retrieved November 26, 2007, from Department of Veteran Affairs Web Site: http://www1.va.gov/opa/fact/docs/vafacts.doc.
• Department Of Veteran Affairs. (2007). VHA Forms, Publications and Records management. Retrieved December 5, 2007, from Department of Veteran Affairs Web Site: http://www1.va.gov/vhapublications/publications.cfm?pub=1.

More papers on The Veterans Health Administration:

• Research Paper # 112983 : "Influencing the Future of Nursing and Health Care"
• Case Study # 108940 : "Organizational/Leadership Behavior of the VHA"
• Case Study # 111675 : "Organizational Change"

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