In healthcare today, challenges surface almost daily in terms of finance, reform, government mandates and policy, technology, and customer satisfaction. It is crucial that healthcare leaders step back and continually assess the organization's strategic plan. In fact, strategic thinking, assessing and modeling are becoming requirements for an organization to survive the turbulent healthcare climate.

Strategic planning provides a roadmap to where the company is going, and directions on how to get there. It is used to guide all decisions, including those regarding capital, technology, staff and other resources.

Various business analysis techniques can be used in strategic planning, including SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological), to define direction. Throughout the process, strategic planning is the formal consideration of an organization's future course. All strategic planning deals with at least one of three key business questions:

• "What do we do?"
• "For whom do we do it?"
• "How do we excel?"

Strategic help us see the bigger picture when it is easier to get lost in the daytoday operational issues. Big picture issues include:

• Service or technology portfolios
• Competitive and regulatory pressures and changes
• Success factors
• Functional business models and departmental alignment
• Goals and objectives
• Organizational culture
• Core competencies
• Current conditions

We can then create proactive strategies to move from current state to desired state. Information technology is a large part of this equation. Therefore, it is important to be very familiar with the current state of IT, and what you will need in this area to meet future goals.

Historically, organizations have developed strategic plans for threetofive years. However, with healthcare reform, new technology, and staffing issues in the industry, the strategic planning process has become more frequent, and rightly so.

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Strategic Planning Project

Part 1 - Review/Develop Vision & Mission

Although many organizations have created vision, mission, goals and objectives, these elements need to be reviewed on a continuous basis. The reason lies in the ever changing environment and business constraints forced upon organizations through government, payers, competition, physicians, patients, vendors etc.

Each internal department's vision and mission must be aligned and supportive of the overall business strategy.

The mission of an organization is the reason it exists. Usually the mission takes the form of a statement, which conveys a sense of purpose to the employees, patients, physicians and the community. The mission sets the tone for goals and objectives.

Task:

• Select a Healthcare business/organization that interests you
• This business/organization will be used for the entire project
• Be sure the business/organization has information available to the public
• Give a 1 paragraph background to the organization/business
• Identify the Vision & Mission of the selected business/organization
• Type out each
• Provide an updated/revised Vision & Mission Statement
• Provide 5-7 sentence justification for the update/revision
• Format:
• 1 paragraph background
• Bullet points with headers
• Paragraph with justification

Part 2 Business and Operational Analysis

One of the key objectives of strategic planning is to understand internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external threats and opportunities, i.e. a SWOT analysis. It is critical to engage stakeholders from across the organization - and vendors as well to provide their points of view. This involvement will not only improve your plan, it will create organizational ownership, which will be important for executing and sustaining the plan.

Look at these aspects from an internal and external perspective:

Company culture

Company image

Organizational structure

Key staff and overall personnel

Access to resources

Operational efficiency

Operational capacity

Market awareness

Financial resources

Information systems and resources

Task:

• Using the chart below, conduct a SWOT Analysis using the selected business/organization.

1. Strengths

Weaknesses

1. Opportunities

1. Threats

• Format:
• Chart

Part 3 Develop and Select Strategic Options

All possible strategies should be developed based on the inputs. Then the list should be narrowed down to strategies that are within the guiding principles of the organization. Guiding principles identify the "ground rules" and parameters that will inform decision making for your organization. For example, will your organization consider merging with or acquiring another organization to meet its goals? Do you want to outsource certain functions?

Another decisionmaking criterion is your organizational capacity. For example, if a goal is to increase revenue in orthopedics by 7%, are there enough physicians to support that increase in volume? Do they specialize in the services that will meet that goal?

You should have a few strategies outlined before you go to Part 4.

Task:

• Identify/Develop ONE short term business/organization goal
• Create "ground rule"/strategy on accomplishing this goal
• Identify/Develop ONE long term business/organizational goal
• Create "ground rule"/strategy on accomplishing this goal
• Format:
• Bullet points with headers

Part 4 Establish Strategic Objectives

This step narrows the list even more by applying various models (financial, etc.) to each strategy to determine the effect it will have on the organization. This step is also where key measures and timelines are established or validated. Once the strategies are tested in this way, it can be put together to form the strategic plan. The plan's components should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timebound (SMART).

Task:

• Using the strategies in Part 3:
• Create ONE "SMART" objective for each
• Two objectives (total) should be created
• Format:
• Bullet points with headers

Part 5 Strategy Execution Plan

Now a plan must be developed to implement the chosen strategic options. To be successful, you will need organizational ownership of the plan, which includes not only executive sponsorship, but also the active involvement of all staff members. Communicate the plan to all levels of the organization. Find champions in all areas. Define what is "in it for them." The clear (SMART) goals and staff involvement in the initial committees will help you now.

Task:

• Visit: https://cloud.smartdraw.com/editor.aspx?templateId=880fff0d-dd33-4499-9bde-85c6328de8c4&noro=1&nsu=1
• Create an organizational chart that reflects the selected business/organization
• For EACH component listed
• Define what is "in it for them."
• How will they benefit from the goal/objective?
• Format:
• Download chart created and embed in paper
• Bullet points for each component

Part 6 Establish Appropriate Budget and Resource Allocation

Quite often, once the strategic assessment and plan is complete, leadership may not be able to allocate or assign appropriate funding, staffing or other resources to specific initiatives. The result of improper or inadequate budgets and staffing usually ends with failed strategic initiatives. It is critical to receive leadership commitment on budget and resources before execution of the strategic plan.

Task:

• Create a 1 paragraph commitment request that can be used to solidify business/organization financial backing for the strategic plan
• Format:
• 1 paragraph

Part 7 Execution Review

One of the critical success factors for effective strategy deployment is constant and ongoing progress reviews. Appropriate reporting mechanisms must be included in the deployment. When issues, challenges, deviations or obstacles are identified, decisions and remediation are necessary - some which may even change the strategic direction. Therefore, it is important to decide who is involved in the review process, and what exactly is reviewed.

Task:

• Discuss who needs to be involved in the strategic review process and why (1-2 paragraphs)
• What components should be reviewed and how often? (1-2 paragraphs)
• Format:
• 2-4 paragraphs

Enjoy the benefits

Outcome: The Strategic Planning Process