Recommendation
The most viable course of action is to open the facility to care for elderly Vietnamese. The first justification is the weak competition in the area. The intensity of competitive rivalry is a major determinant of market entry decision (Klein et al., 2020).
The entry of new firms into a market adversely affects existing competitors. Guo et al. (2017) explain that when the threat of new entrants is high, existing firms often “use vagueness in their corporate communications to make their strategies and actions harder to discern” (p. 2073). Such aggressive tactics are intended to discourage potential entrants, consequently weakening the threat of new competitive entries. The Maryland Metro region has the fifth largest Vietnamese population, but it has no nursing home. The absence of direct competitors is an incentive to open the facility in the area.
Besides that, penetrating the niche segment will facilitate differentiation of MANC’s services and help it exploit the high growth market. Also, the growing demand for in-home medical services indicates the target segment’s potential (Majumder et al., 2017). Lastly, the company has strong reputation and essential goodwill, a factor that would help attract endowment options. This point addresses the concerns over hiring new personnel, designing new programs, and customizing the company’s marketing content to meet its business goals and objectives. These points provide strong justification for opening the new facility.
Strategic Plan
Strategic Goals
- Develop and implement an assisted living services program to ensure that 75% of eligible low-income individuals in the Vietnamese community has access to in-home, group-home, and institutional care supports by December, 2020.
- Develop MANC’s capacity to deliver quality assisted living services to the Vietnamese population and other communities resulting in a 25% increase the rate of utilization of in-home, group-home, and institutional care by June, 2020.
Overall, the first strategic goal seeks to enhance access to assisted living services within the Vietnamese population in Virginia. There is no single nursing home in the immediate northern Virginia and suburban Maryland area dedicated to providing assisted living social supports to low-income members of the Vietnamese population. The assisted living program will support Mr. Nguyen’s strong desire to help bridge the gap in providing care for the elderly as it will bring an environment that can meet their unique needs close to the local community. The United States tends to invest heavily in the provision of clinical services at the expense of addressing social and behavioural determinants of health, consequently perpetuating health inequalities (Ginter et al., 2013; Adler et al., 2016). The program will help overcome socioeconomic barriers to assisted living care, such as poverty and cultural and language differences, which remain perverse in the Vietnamese population.
The second goal aims to ensure the sustainability of the assisted living program. A lack of and skills, cultural norms, and lack of buy-in are significant barriers to successful adoption of healthcare programs (Chan et al., 2017). Consequently, it is imperative to ensure that MANC has adequate capital, human, and infrastructural resources to ensure the sustainability of the assisted living program. Recruiting new staff, designing appropriate program, and building partnerships with the locals are part of the preparations that will ensure that MANC is ready for the deployment of the new program.
Strategic Objectives
- Goal 1:
- Undertake a community health needs assessment for assisted living needs and services for the elderly Vietnamese population by March 30, 2021.
- Recruit 25% of the target elderly in the Vietnamese communities who are eligible for assisted living social supports
- Work with the program implementation team to develop in-home, group-home and institutional care supports for the elderly population by August, 2021.
- Design and implement a community awareness program to raise a 65% increase in understanding about the importance of assisted living services.
- Goal 2:
- Secure 75% of the required funding through endorsements, negotiated funding agreements for social supports, and hiring new staff to facilitate service delivery by August 30, 2021.
- Recruit new staff with relevant training and skills to provide quality assisted living social supports to the elderly Vietnamese population.
Measurement
Access to the assisted living services will be measured by tracking and monitoring visitations and hospitalizations. Documenting the number of patients who seek in-home care, elderly foster care, and institutional care will provide insights into the level of access to support services and the rate of utilization and nursing home placement. The efficacy of the program will be evaluated by administering an Assisted Living Home Survey on patient safety to patients and staff involved in care delivery. MANC’s capacity to deliver quality assisted living services will be measured by calculating utilization rates and nursing home placements. The surveys will also help to determine their level of satisfaction with the services offered. Lastly, analyzing health outcomes such as physical performance and cognitive functioning will be monitored to measure program efficacy.
Implementation/Action Plan
References
Adler, N. E., Glymour, M. M., & Fielding, J. (2016). Addressing social determinants of health and health inequalities. Jama, 316(16), 1641-1642. Web.
Chan, G., Bergelson, I., Smith, E. R., Skotnes, T., & Wall, S. (2017). Barriers and enablers of kangaroo mother care implementation from a health systems perspective: a systematic review. Health policy and planning, 32(10), 1466-1475. Web.
Ginter, P. M., Duncan, J. W., & Swayne, L. E. (2013). The strategic management of healthcare organizations (7th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Guo, W., Yu, T., & Gimeno, J. (2017). Language and competition: Communication vagueness, interpretation difficulties, and market entry. Academy of Management Journal, 60(6), 2073-2098. Web.
Klein, K., Semrau, T., Albers, S., & Zajac, E. J. (2020). Multimarket coopetition: How the interplay of competition and cooperation affects entry into shared markets. Long Range Planning, 53(1), 101868. Web.
Majumder, S., Aghayi, E., Noferesti, M., Memarzadeh-Tehran, H., Mondal, T., Pang, Z., & Deen, M. J. (2017). Smart homes for elderly healthcare-recent advances and research challenges. Sensors, 17(11), 2496. Web.