Question

Why is the identification of organized stakeholders critical to effecting change internally and externally in health care organizations?

Answer 1

There are two types of stakeholders in a healthcare system; internal and external stakeholders. People who are already committed to serving the healthcare system, the staff and management, constitute the internal stakeholders. The external stakeholders are the patients/clients, community partners, and the like, who are the profit or loss contributors to the system. The internal stakeholders are the profit earners of the system including the people who will lose or gain capital investment. The internal stakeholders are the investors/owners and the people who work for them, those make the system work for the external stakeholders. Therefore, the external stakeholders are dependent on the internal stakeholders and vice versa. Organized stakeholders are people with a similar, high degree of interest in an organization and its profitability, like the owners, their representatives etc. Identifying them would improve the structural and functional aspects resulting in increased profitability and functionality. This is critical to effecting change internally and externally in healthcare organizations, which would benefit many people including the clients/patients, staff, and owners.