Technology: a strategic factor in hospital planning

Hospital administrators cannot afford to sit back, amazed at technological progress. They must be able to assess technology--both currently available and planned for the future--and they must be willing to adapt to rapid change. Assessing and planning for technology are essential for future survival.     

25 pitfalls of strategic planning

Strategic planning has often been viewed as a panacea, a means of addressing and solving all of an organization's issues and problems. Unfortunately, that is not often the case. Strategic planning is merely a tool. And it is only effective when used well. To help you make the most of your planning efforts, Healthcare Executive talked with several healthcare consultants who specialize in healthcare strategic planning. They identified the following 25 pitfalls you can avoid to make strategic planning a stronger tool for your organization.     

Integrating strategic and financial planning

Our guide through the major steps for integrating strategic and financial planning shows how to balance organizational priorities and the deployment of resources.     

Business value of IT: the strategic planning process

Too often, the vocabulary of IT justification is disconnected from the dominant business issues of the enterprise. The described framework for IT strategic planning can be used not only to align IT investments with business objectives, but also to provide clarity to enterprise business IT strategy.     

Case study in health information management: strategic planning

The strategic planning process has proven to be invaluable to Riverside Hospital's success. Involvement of all levels of the organization and integration of plans solidifies organizational commitments and provides a framework that assures accomplishment of overall goals. With major developments in computerization of medical records and other systems that support patient care data analysis on the horizon, Riverside's integrated plans are defining crucial information system projects. As the pool of available resources for projects continues to shrink, the planning format described assures funding of information system needs that will secure a position for Riverside in the health care marketplace of the future.     

Strategic cycling: shaking complacency in healthcare strategic planning

As the conditions affecting business and healthcare organizations in the United States have become more turbulent and uncertain, strategic planning has decreased in popularity. Strategic planning is criticized for stiffling creative responses to the new marketplace and for fostering compartmentalized organizations, adherence to outmoded strategies, tunnel vision in strategy formulation, and overemphasis on planning to the detriment of implementation. However, effective strategic planning can be a force for mobilizing all the constituents of an organization, creating discipline in pursuit of a goal, broadening an organization's perspective, improving communication among disciplines, and motivating the organization's workforce. It is worthwhile for healthcare organizations to preserve these benefits of strategic planning at the same time recognizing the many sources of turbulence and uncertainty in the healthcare environment. A model of "strategic cycling" is presented to address the perceived shortcomings of traditional strategic planning in a dynamic environment. The cycling model facilitates continuous assessment of the organization's mission/values/vision and primary strategies based on feedback from benchmark analysis, shareholder impact, and progress in strategy implementation. Multiple scenarios and contingency plans are developed in recognition of the uncertain future. The model represents a compromise between abandoning strategic planning and the traditional, linear model of planning based on progress through predetermined stages to a masterpiece plan.     

Issues management: the other side of strategic planning

Most health services organizations follow a strategic planning model that emphasizes organizational changes to adapt to the environment. This limited view overlooks the possibility of changing the environment to better suit the organization's goals. Health services leaders in particular are concerned because they have not been effectively engaged in dealing with external policy matters. A strategic issues management system provides an integrated approach to this responsibility and can be established by expanding current strategic management activities. Additional resources will be required for new analyses and interpretations and for more intense interaction with stakeholders, but these costs will be significantly less than the benefits realized from operation of an effective strategic issues management system.     

Information resource management strategic business planning

The business process and information management, rather than technology and systems, must be considered in today's health care environment. The article discusses the contents of an information resource management (IRM) strategic business plan and a five-step process used to construct the plan. Examples of strategic goals and objectives from an actual case study are provided. The resulting IRM strategic plan is designed to be used as a management tool that provides the flexibility and cohesiveness required to manage information in the current dynamic and resource-constrained environment.