Essay on Informational Approach in Measuring Organizational Effectiveness

According to Pearlson, Saunders & Galletta, (2016), one can analyze and determine organizational effectiveness through various approaches. However, these methods reveal organizational performance index levels differently because they are carried out using different data collection and analyzing tools and mechanisms. Information is an essential component, which can influence the success of any particular entity positively or negatively. Consequently, various organizations apply the informational approach in evaluating their effectiveness and performance in service delivery. The informational approach, when applied efficiently and in a systematic manner, can be used to appraise organizations achievements and failures based on their respective goals and objectives. This analysis will be built on a health care organization, which is directly interested in evaluating the overall performance of their respective health care services and specific programs.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is an organization based in the United Stated and is mandated to study, control and prevent diseases in the USA. The primary objective of this agency is to ensure the health and safety of American citizens. CDC conducts many types of research and critical medical science analyses to ensure that it is capable of attaining its mission, goals, and objectives. The organization performs this through the acquisition of relevant health information to determine causes and cure of various diseases to promote health and safety. Particularly, it uses questionnaires and other related data collection tools to acquire important information from the public concerning specific diseases. In 2006, the CDC published a particular method of evaluating the performance of HIV counseling and testing centers to determine the number of HIV infections, early detection of HIV infections and propose effective methods of counseling procedures. The CDC introduced questionnaires that were supposed to be used by various HIV counseling and testing healthcare centers in the United States to gather information about the disease.

Mainly, the questionnaires were used in HIV counseling and testing centers whereby they were directed specifically to patients and staff; this means that there were two types of surveys: one, which was intended to be filled by the patients to determine their opinions on regular HIV testing in various health centers. The other type of inquiry was to be filled by the medical center staff members who were involved in regular HIV testing. Markedly, the patients questions were restricted to be filled by only adolescents and adults. According to instructions provided by CDC to particular health centers, the questionnaires were supposed to be filled by all individuals irrespective of whether they had undertaken taken previous HIV tests.

The primary purpose of using questionnaires to gather information from the public and the health care centers by the CDC is to be able to determine the most suitable approach to serving patients that are convenient and readily acceptable to attract and encourage them to go for regular HIV screening and tests in various health care centers. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention had a broad range of approaches to make conclusions about the study to choose from, but it resulted in the need for gathering detailed information about the best suitable method to be used for HIV counseling and testing centers. Some of these options to collect adequate data included; opt-out approach, pre-test information, and various methods of HIV testing. Apparently, questionnaires were used correctly by the health care centers to evaluate the proper HIV testing and counseling techniques in previous studies. Therefore, they seemed to be the best evaluation method to assess the performance and progress of the health care centers spearheaded by the CDC since they were capable of reaching a wider population and gathering correct and personal opinions of the patients regarding their preferred choice of testing and counseling.

People tend to avoid filing questionnaires relating to HIV issues because of the stigma associated with the disease. Moreover, since most patients do not want to disclose their status, it becomes difficult to most individuals visiting various healthcare facilities to analyze questions and answers relating to these questionnaires (Carayon, 2016). One of the main setbacks associated with the analysis of survey answers is the issue of confidentiality. In most cases, patients believe that if they provide honest and correct information, it may be revealed later to other parties. The complexity of questionnaires also poses a significant challenge while addressing the particular answers. For instance, in a situation where a particular question requires a complicated answer or illustration, it becomes tough for the respondent to provide correct and accurate information. A questionnaire should contain direct and straightforward questions, which are relatively convenient to the respondents. An organization like the Center for Disease Control and Prevention is supposed to design a questionnaire that is relevant to the issue of concern to attract a large number of patients to undertake the tests and counseling. A well-detailed and straightforward questionnaire ensures that the questions are not difficult for the respondents to handle and respond to appropriately.

The time factor is another crucial issue that can influence how the patients manage the questionnaires. Notably, a questionnaire that contains many questions will require more time from the respondents, which proves to be a major limitation when the patient is trying to answer all the questions in a limited period of time. Similarly, difficult questions demand a lot of time from the respondents, which takes much of their time. A large number of questions and their complexity limits the respondents participation in the research. As such, the number of questions should be as small as possible as long as they address all the concepts the organization needs to gather information about (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). Additionally, the questions should be straightforward to ensure the patients have ready answers that do not take a lot of time to write.

The agency expects the questionnaire to be used as a tool of information evaluation to provide accurate and relevant information about the areas addressed in the respective inquiry, for example, the effectiveness of a particular program in the organization or the overall performance of the organization or its progress towards the attainment of its goals and objectives. After the questionnaire has been fully completed and submitted to the organization, it should be capable of determining the relevance and performance of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention program of selecting the best suitable approach of attracting an increased number of individuals undergoing regular screening and testing of HIV infection. Answers provided by the respective questionnaire provide relevant information about the performance of the CDC organization in achieving its core objective of ensuring Americans health security and safety through disease control and prevention. Apparently, the questionnaire should also provide answers regarding what the respondents perceive as the best mechanisms and approaches applied by the organization towards achieving their goals and objectives and those approaches they view as ineffective. According to the information provided by the patients in the questionnaires, the health organization can select the best methods and approaches to improve their effectiveness through implementation of strategies suggested by patients.

Information gives an organization the power to change and alter its operations and plans. Similarly, the information and data provided by the questionnaires can revise the previous plans and activities of a particular organization and align them towards clients or patients expectations as illustrated in the information given by patients in those several questionnaires. Continuous and thorough analysis of survey information about different tests methods and approaches towards HIV testing and screening can adversely affect the organizations ways about that particular matter of concern to improve its effectiveness towards attracting a large number of patients to undergo such screening and testing processes. Furthermore, it improves on the areas of interest as per the gathered information and capitalizes on the areas the patients find most effective.

Questionnaires need to be designed properly and systematically to maximize the credibility and significance of the information provided while addressing the organization expected feedback from the patients. One of the most effective means in which the survey can be redesigned is by including consent and confidentiality clause in the questionnaire. The clause can be an assurance to the patients that the information they provide about their personal health and personal opinions about the performance of the organization will be kept confidential. Confidentiality will ensure that patients provide honest and accurate information about the organizations performance while addressing the issue of HIV detection and prevention. The questionnaire can also be redesigned to include questions that are specifically relevant and straightforward to the patients. At the stage of redesigning the questionnaire, the organization can include a clause such as the patient can only answer the question he or she has knowledge about and leave unanswered the ones which seem difficult. Such methods ensure that the questionnaire is convenient and not confusing to the respondent when filling the questionnaire (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). Second, making revisions on the questions to allow respondents to tick the most appropriate answer can give the survey more information depending on the direction the researchers intend to take in determining the performance of the health centers.

Finally, it is important to note that questionnaires can be helpful in gathering precise and significant information from patients regarding their opinions on the performance of a particular program or the overall effectiveness of the organization. Notably, data relating to the confidentiality of information, the relevance of the counseling process, and the safety observed during HIV testing, for example, the use of personal testing kits plays an essential role in the improvement of the health centers performance. Furthermore, the organizations focus on areas of concern as per patients comments and answers and develop strategies to improve their services, which raise their effectiveness levels. However, for the questionnaires to be entirely helpful, they need to be designed systematically to be convenient and appealing when drawing crucial information from the correspondent. Mainly, revising the survey to make the questions straightforward and comprehensible is inevitable, because it improves the effectiveness of the study since the respondents understand all the questions and answer them accordingly.

References

Carayon, P. (Ed.). (2016). Handbook of human factors and ergonomics in health care and patient safety. CRC Press.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Evaluation toolkit: patient and provider perspectives about routine HIV screening in health care settings.

Pearlson, K. E., Saunders, C. S., & Galletta, D. F. (2016). Managing and Using Information Systems, Binder Ready Version: A Strategic Approach. John Wiley & Sons.