Introduction
Healthcare management is one of the most essential facets that society strives to deal with in the best way possible. New technology and ideas continue to drive health care to high levels, thus making it a very dynamic field. Health care management has become competitive. The changes are attributable to the emergence of many players in the field who are out to gain economically. Competition in the health sector requires the players to invest many resources in planning by forecasting using the emerging trends. Under this requirement, strategic planning has come out as the most important hinge in the planning sector (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2007). Strategic planning enables the management team to map out areas within their sector to forecast the objectives to be achieved in such areas. This paper examines the development of Last Chance Hospital’s strategic plan and the reasons for the outcomes of the plan.
Russ’ Planning Strategies
Russ Newmarket was the strategic planner for the hospital. He was tasked with developing a strategic plan. Russ’ ideas were finally adopted by the management of the hospital because of the approach he used. In the first instance, Russ observed that the hospital had been working well by using the physician-centered model. As the first step in planning, Schneider (2015) shows how one should always find out the prevailing condition or state of affairs within the institution that needs change. By evaluating the prevailing conditions, Russ managed to find out what was working, including what was not working.
Russ realized that the management team preferred to use the physician-centered approach as its way to success. Therefore, he fashioned his plans to be in line with the management’s views by providing valid information that showed that the system works. According to Pol and Sucheta (2014), “Plan formulation requires the planner to minimize resistance and other barriers to the plan (p.1324). This approach was adopted in the management without any resistance. As the main planner, Russ appreciated all members of the organization by including their ideas about the plan. This strategy made the plan a whole-team affair. Successful implementation of plans happens when the executors understand its origins and purpose. By taking ownership of a plan, every member of the organization identifies with the plan positively. Russ’ plan was successful because he fitted resources and opportunities in his plan. The plan was triumphant in the path that it took because the management committed more resources to the success of the plan.
Things that Marvelous Marvin could have done Differently
Marvelous Marvin was the chief executive officer of Last Chance Hospital. As the overall executive, the CEO was responsible for all decisions made on behalf of the facility. In any organization, the CEO assumes the burden of success and failure. Thus, he or she is supposed to get everything right. Marvin failed to recruit personnel in one of the most important areas of management. The graveyard was doubling up as the CEO and as the chief nursing officer. This role created a bias in her work because she concentrated more on the area she loved most, namely, the chief nursing officer. Marvin’s failure can also be attributed to the CEO’s breakdown to research the latest market trends. Strategic planning involves aligning the organization’s plans with the current and forecasted future trends of the industry (Schneider, 2015).
Although the hospital had seen success using physician referrals, the prevailing market trends were leaning towards the patient-centric area. Therefore, by sticking to its past mode of operation, the facility was becoming rigid towards changes in the industry. One of the main problems that the hospital faced that forced its officials to develop a new strategic plan was the increased dependence on reserves. This situation shows that the hospital was running at a loss. Reserves were simply plugging its operation costs. Marvin and the management teams failed in their planning approach to identifying the real problem that necessitated a new strategic plan. Therefore, they divorced the problem solution from their new plan. Therefore, as the chief executive officer, Marvin should have focused the solutions on addressing the dipping revenues by deviating from the past.
Political Factors
Political factors in an organization’s management revolve around power and resources. The chief executive officer is the most powerful person in the organization in terms of decision-making and resource allocation. In this case, resource allocation was biased towards the physician-centered approach. All efforts were geared towards attracting physicians by creating an attractive working environment that was in line with the plan. Russ ensured that the strategic plan impressed the powers that prevailed in the organization while at the same time avoiding any interference with the favorable plan. This approach was meant to endear him to the management. Proximity to power played a big role in clouding the judgment of the management team. Although Russ was under Graveyard according to the hierarchical structure, he reported indirectly to Marvin. This situation neutralized Graveyard’s authority over him and his plans.
Who is to Blame
The bad outcomes of the strategic plan are all attributable to Russ. As an individual, Russ made a name for himself solely for personal growth. Therefore, he played his role to his advantage, but not to the advantage of the organization. His self-driven interests when establishing the plan made it fail to answer fundamental issues. Playing along with the management’s wishes was one way of avoiding being a barrier and/or becoming unfavorable. Other departments that were not part of the strategic plan sighed with relief when they were left out of the execution because they felt that the plan was toxic. Thus, avoiding participation cleansed them of any blame that would come in the future.
My Opinion as an OR Director
As an OR director, my scope would be the management of the OR operations according to need and plan. The OR‘s performance is pegged on the volume of patients it handles at a given time. My advice to the planning team would be to allocate funds for the OR operations for the department to be in a good position to execute its programs. As Mathilde, Van Exel, Laszlo, and Cramm (2015) assert, although forecasting is important, it is very different from implementation because it will be dependent on patient volumes to be actualized. I would advise the management of the hospital to execute the implementation in phases. Putting up physical structures before securing patients can be a costly move because some of these structures can remain unused. Although physician reference is a proven working formula, the management should acknowledge competition that prevails in this area.
As Uddin and Hossain (2014) recommend, “a survey should be done to establish the capacity of other hospitals offering the same service” (p. 56). The results can be used to calculate patient formula ratios. By factoring in such business environment issues, I would be in a good position to offer advice on a measured expansion program for the OR. A better idea about the execution of the strategic plan would be to increase capacity gradually about escalating patient volumes. The availability of staff members without patients is an expense that leads to losses. Therefore, the overall expansion of the facility should be synchronized in all departments according to need (Syed, Anisa, & Dawood, 2012). My advice about the whole strategy would be that more than one approach should be applied, with the new patient-centered approach being used as a pilot program. This plan would act as a marketing strategy through the new formula. At the end of the day, besides the best program being fully empowered, resources that are dedicated to the other program will be transferred.
Conclusion
Strategic plans are meant to secure the future of an organization. Failure of these plans can be dangerous because it can easily lead to the death of the organization. During the planning process, it is prudent for the management to consider all factors at play before making any conclusions. Some of these factors include the prevailing trends in the industry and the forecasted trends shortly. Organizations should be flexible enough to adapt and accept change when it occurs. This change will only be relevant if it has a positive reflection on the organization’s performance. Due to the dynamic nature of the healthcare industry, players should be in constant motion. The management of hospitals should strive to recruit personnel who have the best interest of the hospital at heart. In the case of Last Hope Hospital, the person with the responsibility of turning the institution around was selfish. He acted to drive his interests against those of the institution.
Reference List
Buchbinder, S., & Shanks, N. (2007). Introduction to Health Care Management. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Mathilde, B., Van Exel, J., Laszlo, L., & Cramm, J. (2015). Healthcare Professionals’ Views on Patient-Centered Care in Hospitals. BMC Health Services Research, 15(1), 1-13.
Pol, H., & Sucheta, N. (2014). Managing strategic change: The duality of CEO personality. Strategic Management Journal, 35(9), 1318-1342.
Schneider, S. (2015). Analysis of Management Practice Strategic Planning: A Comprehensive Approach. Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management, 10(3), 27-35.
Syed, U., Anisa, H., Dawood, A. (2012). The Usage Behavior of Knowledge Management System in Hospitals. IUP Journal of Knowledge Management, 10(2), 22-44.
Uddin, S., & Hossain, L. (2014). Social Networks in Exploring Healthcare Coordination. Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management, 9(3), 53-62.