Riverbend Orthopedics is a busy group practice with expanded services for orthopedic care. It has seven physicians and a podiatrist, plus about 70 other employees. In its big, new clinic building, Riverbend provides extensive orthopedic care. Several technicians provide diagnostic medical imaging, from basic X-rays to magnetic resonance images.

The physicians perform surgery in their own outpatient surgery center with Riverbend’s operating nurses and technicians. Therapy is provided by three physical therapists and one part-time contracted occupational therapist. In addition to staff providing actual patient care, the clinic has staff for financial management, medical records, human resources, information systems/technology, building maintenance, and other administrative matters. Occasional marketing work is done by an advertising company. Legal work is outsourced to a law firm. Riverbend is managed by a new president, Ms. Garcia.

She and Riverbend have set a goal of achieving “Excellent” ratings for patient experience from at least 90 percent of Riverbend’s patients this year.

The seven physicians and one podiatrist own Riverbend Orthopedics and together are the board of directors. Ms. Garcia is currently leading the board of directors in its strategic planning. They all feel the “Healthcare Trends and Future Developments” section of chapter 1 is relevant to Riverbend. They also note that only 57 percent of patients rated the ease of scheduling appointments as “Excellent” during the past year. All appointments are scheduled by telephone.

Mini Case Study Questions MCQ1. Ms. Garcia asks you to help identify five to seven critical planning issues for Riverbend based on the trends and developments in chapter 1. What issues do you suggest the planning should address? Rank the issues as high, medium, and low priorities. You may make reasonable assumptions and inferences.

MCQ2. Ms. Garcia asks you if project planning could be used to improve the scheduling of appointments. How would you answer her?