Abstract
M.Cur.
Managed healthcare was introduced in South Africa largely in order to control the
rampant increase of medical costs, more especially in the private healthcare industry.
Managed healthcare is a system of healthcare delivery, which ensures that cost
effective quality care is provided to patients without jeopardising the health of the
patient.
Positive working relationships are necessary among the role players in the provision
of cost effective quality care within the managed healthcare context. Role players
experience problems in the delivery of healthcare, affecting their working
relationships, which in turn affects the quality of care provided to patients.
Because managed healthcare is a new concept in South Africa, little is known about
the problems. As a result, there are no guidelines for the formulation of a strategy to
enhance positive working relationships among the role players within the context of
managed healthcare. Understanding the problems experienced by the role players will
provide guidelines to the researcher to formulate a strategy to enhance positive
working relationships, hence the reseacher sought to explore and describe these
problems in the study. The purpose of the study is to formulate a strategy to enhance positive working
relationships among the role players within the managed healthcare context in
Gauteng. The specific objective is to explore and describe the problems experienced
by the role players, as well as the possible solutions within the managed healthcare
context in Gauteng. The relevant research questions are:
* What are the problems experienced by the role players within the managed
healthcare context in Gauteng, and what are the recommended solutions to
counteract these problems?
* What strategy can be formulated to enhance positive working relationships among the role players within the managed healthcare context in Gauteng?
A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was followed to answer
the research questions. Focus group interviews and a workshop were conducted to
collect data and a content analysis was conducted as described by Tesch (1990).
The results were analysed in two phases: the problems experienced and the suggested
solutions to counteract these problems. A strategy to enhance positive working
realtionships was suggested. The strategy, which is based on role player
empowerment, staff development, staff recruitment and selection, use of advanced
information technology and standardisation of methods across managed healthcare
industry, was derived from a synthesis of solutions suggested by the participants.
Guba and Lincoln's (1983:290) principles of trustworthiness were employed by the
researcher and the ethical standards as set by DENOSA (1998) were adhered to by the
researcher to facilitate the quality of the study. It was recommended that the strategy
be implemented and evaluated for its effectiveness by evaluating the quality of
working relationships among the role players and that ethical standards be formulated
in managed healthcare.