Impact of Mergers and Acquisitions on the Health Care Workforce

Workers in health care, because of the conversion of health care into a commercialized business in many respects, have found themselves exposed to the same opportunities and problems that face workers in the rest of the working world. Because of the fact that certain types of health care workers are in high demand, many of these workers will quickly switch jobs and be more likely to expose the organizations to staffing shortages unexpectedly. Additionally, from the viewpoint of the employers, mergers and acquisitions often create massive layoffs or pay cuts, due once again to the view of health care as a business rather than public service (Ginsburg, 1996).

Also, the bottom line to consider, in addition to all of the affects on the health care workforce, is the impact that the workers pass along to the patients.

Impact of Mergers and Acquisitions on the Patients

Patients may be the hardest hit by the mergers and acquisitions that have become commonplace in health care worldwide in recent years; for example, staffing cuts in the interest of profitability often cause patients to receive less attention and care than they would in a fully staffed facility. As was mentioned earlier in this paper, this often has irreversible effects on the patients due to the nature of health care as...

As one source so aptly put it, when discussing health care as a business, the desire for profits may be one of the most lethal diseases of all, very contagious, and extremely hard to cure (Levins, 2000).
Conclusion

Overall, research has shown that when health care becomes a business rather than a public service, there are some negative effects, and in fairness some positive ones. In closing, perhaps the most important thought to take away from this research is that health care organizations, while having to be profit conscious as a matter of necessity, must not forget the human element of what they are doing to avoid catastrophe.

References

Ginsburg, C. (1996, November 18). The Patient as Profit Center: Hospital Inc. Comes to Town. The Nation, 263, 18+. Retrieved January 18, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002274395

Levins, R. (2000, September). Is Capitalism a Disease? The Crisis in U.S. Public Health. Monthly Review, 52, 8. Retrieved January 18, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002365863

Singer, P.A. (2002, May). Rx for Reform. Foreign Policy 76+. Retrieved January 18, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000749779

Mergers and Acquisitions