COMPARE AND CONSTRAST answer 1 and answer 2

***PLEASE DO NOT RE ANSWER THE QUESTIONS I am only looking to similarities and differences between the two answers.

Thank you

ANSWER 1:

The healthcare organization's strategic plan I chose to research was Lehigh Valley Health Network. The stakeholders identified in the plan include the Board of Directors, the staff, volunteers, donors and the community. In order to meet these objectives, the strategy calls for collaborating with other organizations to raise literacy awareness in our community, devising new methods of involving volunteers in literacy programs, enhancing communication between donors and other stakeholders, conducting a needs assessment study of existing fundraising activities to determine where additional funding is needed, and developing a marketing campaign to raise awareness of the literacy program's existence.

The strategic plan examines how Lehigh Valley may better serve its community by assessing external and internal analyses. As part of the external review, it's important to look at the community's requirements as well as the organization's strengths and flaws. The plan outlines a number of objectives aimed at assisting Lehigh Valley in better meeting the needs of its inhabitants via improved services and initiatives (Lehighvalleyreads.org. n.d.). A few examples include suggesting that Lehigh Valley increase its use of social media platforms and phone calls to better connect with citizens. As part of its outreach efforts, Lehigh Valley hopes to build relationships with local media sources and hand out leaflets in areas where residents may not be familiar with the organization's offerings.

For the organization, Lehigh Valley Reads' strategy is a valuable tool for pinpointing its strengths and limitations, as well as where it hopes to go in the future. Their website, which presently primarily gives information on the organization's activities and events, is one area where they may make improvements. (Lehighvalleyreads.org. n.d.). According to the strategy, they should build a more comprehensive website that explains who they are and what they do better. They must also keep their community assessment up to date on a regular basis to ensure that they are fulfilling the demands of the neighborhood. If they could conduct surveys more often so that there are no gaps in information about how people feel about the organization's work, this would be ideal.

Goals and objectives for improving literacy rates, providing literacy programs for marginalized communities, and advocating for the importance of literacy have been outlined. In order to improve literacy rates, we need to engage closely with the local community in order to make educational materials and tools more widely available. The second objective is to provide free programs for those who cannot afford them in order to provide literacy services to marginalized communities. Lobbying for literacy is the third goal, and this is done through advocating for policies that encourage literacy.

I think that this is a good set of plans for accomplishing their goals. Executive and decision-makers, students, and plan stakeholders seem to have been carefully considered in the development of this plan. In addition, provide instances of how they will address the demands of those specific audiences. (Lehighvalleyreads.org. n.d.). The plan also employs a wide range of strategies to deal with each of these, including, but not limited to consistent messaging across all communication channels, ongoing development of programs and events aimed at raising awareness about reading in Lehigh Valley, publication of web articles highlighting literacy efforts throughout the district and beginning social media conversations among adults in their daily lives.

Reference:

Strategic plan 2019 - 2021 - lehighvalleyreads. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2022, from https://lehighvalleyreads.org/LehighValleyReads/media/Documents/LV-Strategic-Plan-for-Website-2-28-2019.pdf

ANSWER 2:

For this discussion post, I reviewed the 2018-2022 Strategic Plan for Highland Hospital in Rochester, NY.

The strategic plan does not clearly state any stakeholder, but it is heavily implied that Highland considers its patients to be a vital part of its goals - outside of needing them to make profits. The other major stakeholder is likely the University of Rochester Medical Center, it appears that Highland is in a partnership with the university. The strategic plan is inconsistent in specificity, which is why I think that this strategic plan would benefit from using the SMART model. The model would make Highland's goal measurements more concrete and achievable.

While there are no explicit indications of these analyses' it is evident looking through Highland Hospital's breakdown of its Strategic Goals. For example, their plan for their Family Medicine capabilities shows that there is a need for expansion of service and a change in how that service is delivered. This suggests an internal evaluation of their 'current' Family Medicine capabilities. The need for expansion shows that the community was evaluated, suggesting some level of external analysis. Another example would be the goal for Highland's financials. This plan focuses on how much money was to be spent on what type of investment. This suggests an internal analysis of their current resources. A final example would be Highland's Internal Medicine goal. This goal is dedicated to expanding their service lines, cardiology access, geriatric services, and palliative care. All of these particular focuses suggest preparing for an increase in an aging population, which would only be planned with solid external analysis.

Three sets of priorities, goals, and objectives for Highland are: 1. Quality - becoming the lead community hospital for the best outcomes in clinical quality and patient safety. This goal is measured using quantitative measurements: > Reduce preventable harm by 20% > Achieve top 10th percentile in disease management processes and outcomes > Achieve national benchmark re-admission rates > Achieve benchmark targets for key clinical quality measures 2. Facilities & Information Technology - investing in improvements in their facilities, equipment, and IT. The ultimate goal is to provide a state-of-the-art environment for the clinical staff and their patients. This goal is measured with qualitative measurements: > Renovate facilities to meet growing patient volume: convert all semi-private rooms to private rooms; upgrade operating rooms, Family Maternity Center, the Emergency Department, Highland Family Medicine, and Radiology suites > Consolidate clinical and financial systems into eRecord, develop an enterprise strategy for administrative applications, enhance the provider experience with EMR, and leverage the newest technologies for secure provider communications 3. Surgery - Their goal is to expand their community market share in surgery by leveraging their reputation in four surgery subspecialties. There is only one measurement that meets the SMART method from our course: Achieve 2% annual surgical growth in subspecialties. The other four "measurements are not explicit in their measurement goal, but it appears that this goal attempts to use both qualitative and quantitative measurements: > Develop a comprehensive, physician-led medical weight loss program > Grow UR Medicine Breast Surgery volume > Expand the scope of vascular surgery > Develop comprehensive colorectal services

I think that the strategic plan is on target for the priorities, goals, and objectives identified in Highland Hospital's mission and vision statements.

Highland Hospital. (2017, December 13). Highland-Strategic-Plan.pdf. Rochester, NY; The University of Rochester Medical Center.

https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/MediaLibraries/URMCMedia/hh/about-us/docs/Highland-Strategic-Plan.pdf(Links to an external site.)