Strategic planning in healthcare is an integral part of success. Without understanding an organization’s needs and basic trends in technologies and medicine, it is impossible for a healthcare company to survive. One of the healthcare organizations that extensively use planning is Kaiser Permanente. This organization uses modern ways of strategic planning, which help them have a more structured usage of resources and a clear picture of the future.
Kaiser Permanente is a health care company that has provided high-quality medical care for 75 years. The key feature of the organization is that it created an innovative model for health care that unites all physicians, nurses, and all other specialists in one network (Kaiser Permanente, 2020). For large companies like this it is essential to build a well-working planning system. Gonzalez (2019) indicates that long-term planning is the best way for an organization to be successful. The formula “plan-do-check-act” creates motivation and visible goals for company employees (Gonzalez, 2019, p. 3). Esfahani et al. (2018) put research evidence that strategic planning in healthcare, aimed at providing safe, effective, and affordable services, brings positive outcomes for organizations. Kaiser Permanente would not have been able to achieve such success without quality planning of their actions.
The outcomes of strategic planning are in the qualitative improvement of business development. Firstly, strategic planning helps to increase productivity (Vo, 2021). Healthcare workers are beginning to feel a sense of accountability and are more likely to work harder to improve the organization’s standing. Secondly, strategic planning draws attention to possible mistakes and challenges that can happen in the future, so planning will help avoid them (Vo, 2021). If Henry Kaiser, founder of Kaiser Permanente, had not planned in the early stages, the firm would never have become successful and profitable. Finally, planning improves the quality of resource utilization by making it more transparent and structured. Kaiser Permanente, like any large healthcare corporation, prepares annual estimates and plans for spending.
The healthcare company Kaiser Permanente devoted and will continue to devote time for strategic planning because it creates a higher possibility for businesses to become successful. Academic studies confirm that strategic planning is the optimal way how to do business. The reason is that it helps companies to accomplish better results. Through planning, healthcare organizations can increase their productivity, make their future safer from mistakes and improve resources management to a large scale.
References
Esfahani, P., Mosadeghrad, A. M., & Akbarisari, A. (2018). The success of strategic planning in health care organizations of Iran. International journal of health care quality assurance.
Gonzalez, M. E. (2019). Improving customer satisfaction of a healthcare facility: Reading the customers’ needs. Benchmarking: An International Journal.
Kaiser Permanente. (2020). What is Kaiser Permanente? Web.
Vo, E. (2021). What is strategic planning? The Hartford – Small Biz Ahead. Web.