Introduction
Health institutions strive to adopt emerging technologies to meet the changing medical demands of their customers. Governments implement timely policies and guidelines in an effort to protect all involved stakeholders. Leaders of such facilities need to monitor emerging trends, make timely decisions, and consider practical approaches to improving operational efficiency. SDH is one of the institutions implementing timely procedures and initiatives in an effort to achieve the outlined mission and vision. This paper examines its market, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis, strategic goals, and resources that give it focus and direction.
Market Overview
The American healthcare sector is becoming extremely competitive. Clients are now able to seek medical services from a wide range of facilities depending on their medical coverage. Obamacare stands out as one of the policies compelling medical institutions to offer numerous services to more American citizens. Regional and district hospitals need to consider existing regulations and apply them to pursue their organizational goals (Akbarov, Hajiyeva, & Akbarova, 2021). Established policies also compel institutions in the healthcare sector to be prepared for uncertainties, strategic, and capable of providing high-quality medical services.
Mission and Vision Statements
This facility’s mission statement is intended to improve care delivery while providing comprehensive, personalized, and exceptional services to all patients. Those in leadership positions at SDH generate the best objectives, acquire the right resources, and make timely decisions (Stevens County Healthcare, n.d.). They focus on the vision to formulate strategic goals while focusing on the changing demands of both the physicians and the target patients. The frameworks provide the best guidelines for dictating what needs to be done to ensure that timely resources are eventually recorded.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths and Weaknesses
SDH is known for providing quality services in different areas, including emergency, surgery, rehabilitation, and general treatment. It also provides acute care to individuals with critical conditions. Over the years, it has received a number of accreditations due to its continued excellence in medical services, such as the Joint Commission. However, cases of malpractice and claims led to reaccreditation. This negative outcome could have detrimental impacts in the future. Some of the notable weaknesses include the absence of more skilled professionals, limited specialty areas, and cases of poor medical services (Stevens County Healthcare, n.d.). The number of workers remains limited, a gap that affects overall performance. These issues play a positive role in dictating its future goals.
Opportunities and Threats
Various opportunities exist that the leaders at SDH need to consider if it is to remain competitive. The first one is to apply existing policies for the effectiveness of its future performance (Stevens County Healthcare, n.d.). The second one is the acquisition of cutting-edge technology to improve service delivery. Graduates from various learning facilities could help to achieve the outlined mission and vision statements. The major threats affecting SDH include the presence of competition, the longstanding problem of nursing or professional shortage, and uncertain economic times witnessed following the impacts of the ongoing coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Strategic Goals and Rationale
Goal One: Improve Financial Gains
SDH’s first strategic goal is to improve its financial gains within a period of 5 years. The effort will ensure that the facility becomes competitive and attractive to more patients by 2027. The rationale behind this objective is that improved financial performance is usually linked to lower expenses. Proper financial management will allow the hospital to streamline its operations, recruit more workers to meet the changing needs of the targeted patients, and be prepared to adopt emerging technologies (Rasouli, Khoonsari, Ashja’ ardalan, Saraee, & Ahmadi, 2020). The hospital will match the recorded gains with the overall expectations of the anticipated patients. Such gains will ensure that the hospital remains competitive in the region’s healthcare sector.
Goal Two: Increasing Market Share
The goal of hiring more physicians and specialists in a wide range of specialties will make it possible for the leaders at SDH to overcome some of the recorded weaknesses and threats. The approach will empower the current workforce due to the idea of sharing duties (Stevens County Healthcare, n.d.). The rationale behind this goal is that the issue of shortage affects overall care delivery and market share (Rasouli et al., 2020). Such an initiative will ensure that more professionals are able to meet the diverse needs of the target population. The overall new image or outlook will prepare the institutions for additional accreditations in exemplary care and service delivery.
Goal Three: Improve HCAHPS Scores
Hospitals need to improve their Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey scores. This realization helps facilities gauge their practices and how they impact patients’ experiences. A tool is applicable whereby institutions focus on a specific percentile. For SDH, the 80th percentile will ensure that all efforts are intended to improve the overall level of patient satisfaction (Mikhno, Koval, & Ternavskyi, 2020). The institution will, therefore, be on the right path toward achieving its mission and vision statements. The initiative will make it easier for more patients to get personalized and high-quality services.
Itemized Resources
SDH needs to consider a number of resources to support and sustain the implemented strategic plan. The hospital will begin by recruiting competent leaders to implement and pursue the three goals. Such recruits will acquire the much-needed computer systems and equipment to support the change process. Additional drugs and the construction of new facilities could help make the initiative seamless (Mikhno et al., 2020). The involvement of all other key stakeholders and the continuous training of followers will ensure that SDH is closer to achieving its aims.
The consideration of human resources (HR) is essential to ensure that the hospital has competent workers and professionals to manage the outlined goals. They will rely on decision support systems (DSSs) to make informed choices and guide followers to be part of the process (Jimenez & Jacob, 2020). HCAHPS tools will support the management and ensure that the relevant surveys are completed in a timely manner. The consideration of these resources will play a significant role in delivering positive results and making the hospital competitive.
Focus and Direction
The analyzed goals and initiatives SDH is undertaking form an effective strategic plan. The wider health sector is transitioning in such a way that patients receive high-quality, personalized, and timely medical services. The leaders at SDH need to match the itemized resources with each specific goal while focusing on the best ways to deal with threats and weaknesses (Stevens County Healthcare, n.d.). A sense of direction emerges whereby SDH is able to meet the changing needs of its future patients with diverse medical demands (Akbarov et al., 2021). Through such efforts, the institution will become a leader while maintaining excellence in care delivery.
Conclusion
The completed presentation has proved that SDH’s goals are aligned with the outlined mission and vision. The consideration of the relevant resources and the resolution of key threats and weaknesses can help SDH achieve its future goals. Such efforts will increase the number of accreditation or awards, help improve service delivery, and eventually maximize patient satisfaction.
References
Akbarov, K., Hajiyeva, L., & Akbarova, S. (2021). Strategic management for health care organizations in Azerbaijan Republic. International Research Journal of Public and Environmental Health, 8(3), 227-234. doi:10.15739/irjpeh.21.023
Jimenez, J. L., & Jacob, P. (2020). Strategic planning and management of healthcare in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health, 7(12), 5198-5202. doi:10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20204989
Mikhno, I., Koval, Ternavskyi, A. (2020). Strategic management of healthcare institution development of the national medical services market. Access to Science, Business, Innovation in Digital Economy, 1(2), 157-170. doi:10.46656/access.2020.1.2(7)
Rasouli, A., Khoonsari, M. K. K, Ashja’ ardalan, S., Saraee, S., & Ahmadi, F. Z. (2020). The importance of strategic planning and management in health: A systematic review. Journal of Health Management and Informatics, 7(1), 1-9.
Stevens County Healthcare. (n.d.). Our hospital. Web.