The Healthcare Staff Organization Strategic Plan Using SWOT Analysis

Introduction

A strategic plan for the healthcare organization is an important element in health planning as it aids in the creation of objectives and setting goals of where the healthcare staff would like to go or achieve in future by creating a plan for the objectives (Lukas et al., 2007). For the overall process of strategic planning, the completion of a SWOT which refers to a study conducted by an organization with the aim of identifying the organization's internal weaknesses and strengths as well as its external opportunities and threats is important since the internal weaknesses and strengths, as well as the external opportunities and threats, are used in the creation of a roadmap for the organization to improve and grow (Houben, Lenie, & Vanhoof, 1999). This paper, completes a SWOT for a healthcare staff organization and identifies the organization's action plan using the vision and mission statements as well as a service strategy and conclude by summarizing the organization's strategic plan including its limitations and implications to the overall healthcare industry.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

• Highly-skilled clinical personnel
• Willing participation by local charities
• Patient involvement
• Strong attributes of openness, sharing, and commitment towards increasing patient confidence
• Conduction of successful open day events

Weaknesses

• Unavailability of clinical practitioners to attend to patients often.
• Unclear staff role in patient relationship
• Inadequate staff time for planning more events
• Decline in voluntary activities during open days
• Concentration on open events instead of partnership activities

Opportunities

• Availability of an active volunteer committee willing to plan and organize events.
• An active patient's in the clinic's patient participation project who can give their opinions and suggestions
• The willingness by the administrators to flex clinic times to free up clinical staff time
• Use of patients to contribute to practice delivery

Threats

• Coercion of patients to undertake tasks they are not willing to do
• Risk of lack of confidentiality
• The increasing cost of living likely to reduce the number of people willing to take part in a charity

From the above SWOT analysis, it is evident that the healthcare staff organization has highly-skilled clinical personnel, has the ability to conduct successful open day events, willing participation by local charities in the healthcare staff activities, patient involvement in the organization's decisions and strong attributes of openness, sharing and commitment towards increasing patient confidence among the staff. However, there are issues with the organization concentrating on open events instead of partnership activities, unavailability of clinical practitioners to attend to patients often, unclear staff role in the patient relationship, inadequate staff time for planning of more events as well as a decline in voluntary activities during open days.

Externally, there are issues that can affect the success of the healthcare staff organization positively such as the availability of an active volunteer committee willing to plan and organize events, active patient's in the clinic's patient participation project who can give their opinions and suggestions, willingness by the administrators to flex clinic times to free up clinical staff time as well as the use of patients to contribute to practice delivery. Besides, the coercion of patients to undertake tasks they are not willing to do, the risk of lack of confidentiality as well as the increasing cost of living which likely to reduce the number of people willing to take part in charity could affect the success of the organization negatively.

Strategic Action Plan Alignment to Vision, Mission and Service Strategy

Develop a schedule for clinical practitioners to attend to patients to aid in the provision of patient-centered care through the optimization of patient experience through timely healthcare while improving the performance culture within the organization.

Develop a yearly program for open day events that partners with other healthcare staff organizations to enhance preparedness among stakeholders. By doing so, the organization will be working towards the vision of providing patient-centered care through the optimization of the patient experience while improving on resource mobilization and partnering.

Establish an active volunteer committee to mobilize partners, plan, schedule, and organize open day events to offer patient-centered care through the optimization of the patient experience while improving the level of resource mobilization and partnering.

Establish a suggestion box when patients can deposit their suggestions regarding the conduct of the healthcare staff and consider the suggestions in decision making. This will help in the provision of patient-centered care through the optimization of patient experience by participating in healthcare policy formulation while improving their performance culture and partnership.

Develop a confidentiality and openness charter to enhance patient confidence to facilitate the provision of patient-centered care through the optimization of the patient experience while improving the level of performance and collaboration.

Summary of Strategic Plan

The healthcare staff organization aims at improving healthcare through a partnership with other healthcare staff organizations in open day events and collaborating with patients in decision making while providing confidential and open care.

Limitations

The strategic plan may be faced by the problem of finances to mobilize the needed financial and human resources to actualize the plan. Additionally, opposition from some fractions of the healthcare staff organization may hinder the implementation of the plan.

Implications to the Healthcare Industry

Through the implementation of this strategic plan, the entire healthcare industry can be transformed into a collaborative industry aimed at giving patient-centered care. This is because the action plans will eliminate the existing barriers to patient-centered care, such as lack of patient involvement in healthcare formulation processes.

References

Houben, G., Lenie, K., & Vanhoof, K. (1999). A knowledge-based SWOT-analysis system as an instrument for strategic planning in small and medium-sized enterprises. Decision Support Systems, 26(2), 125-135. doi:10.1016/s0167-9236(99)00024-x

Lukas, C. V., Holmes, S. K., Cohen, A. B., Restuccia, J., Cramer, I. E., Shwartz, M., & Charns, M. P. (2007). Transformational change in health care systems: an organizational model. Health Care Management Review, 32(4), 309-320. doi:10.1097/01.hmr.0000296785.29718.5d