Course Project Assignment- Objectives for your Strategic Plan

This module you will develop objectives for your plan. In a 1-2 page paper, describe 3 objectives for your plan. Using the guidelines provided this week in the lecture, test each objective and include your results with the objectives. Be sure to format your paper per APA standards and be sure to use in-text citations where necessary. Also, be sure to include a reference page when required.

Lesson Content - Writing Objectives for Strategic Plans

Organizational Objectives

Writing objectives is a critical part of strategic planning. Your objectives must be clear statements detailing what will be accomplished, in what time frame, and evaluated against what standard. Peter Drucker stated in The Practice of Management that, "objectives are not fate; they are direction. They are not commands, but they are commitments. They do not determine the future, they are the means by which the resources and energies of the operation can be mobilized for the making of the future." (p. 102)

What Makes a Good Objective?

There are a number of characteristics of good objectives:

1. Objectives should be clear and concise. Simply state what the objective and avoid long, flowery prose.

2. Objectives should be in written form. By writing your objectives you can reduce the possibility of misinterpretation or misunderstanding.

3. Objectives should name specific results. Make it clear how the results will be evaluated - "1,000 females of child-bearing age who smoke will be counseled" instead of "a large number of women who smoke" or "an acceptable level of patient services" should be used to clearly state what results are sought.

4. Objectives should be time-sensitive. Objectives can be for the short-run or long-run but the timeframe should be indicated. This provides not only a deadline but also sets the time for the final evaluation of the strategy.

5. Objectives should be stated in measurable terms. Avoid ambiguous phrases such as "increase patient satisfaction" or "improve staffing" which don't allow for measurement. How much increase? How much improvement?

6. Objectives should be attainable, yet challenging. It doesn't do any good to write objectives that no organization can ever accomplish or objectives that can be reached with minimum effort.

In healthcare, we tend to focus on four different types of objectives: 1) services offered; 2) staffing; 3) services reimbursement, donations, and funding; and 4) constituents served.

Before you write your objectives, consider these questions:

1. What areas will your objectives focus on - patients, services, revenues, staffing, other?
2. What needs to happen for your program to be successful? How many people served? Levels reached? Etc.
3. When do you want this to happen? By what specific date?

Reference:

Drucker, P. (1954). The practice of management. New York: Harper Collins.

Guidelines for Evaluating Your Objectives:

Once you have written your objectives, evaluate them using the following:

1. Is each objective relevant to the basic purpose of your organization (look back on your Mission and Vision statements)
2. Is each objective practical?
3. Does each objective challenging?
4. Is each objective stated in measurable terms?
5. Do you have a specific date for completion in each objective?

Course Project - Communicating with Your Target Population

While it would be wonderful if every patient or patient population could be reached via the same communication tools, this is simply not the way it is in healthcare. Different populations require different communication efforts. Reflect on your selected population. In a 1-2 page paper, describe the three most effective way of communicating with your population. Provide specific examples of how you would use each method. For example, if you believe television commercials are an effective technique, what type of commercial would you use? When would it run? During what type of programs? Be sure to format your paper per APA standards and be sure to use in-text citations where necessary. Also, be sure to include a reference page when required.

Healthcare Communication - Lesson Content

Healthcare communications in many ways is different than communication in traditional industries. Often the communication includes information that is not only private, but time-sensitive. Healthcare administrators and professionals alike are constantly searching for technology that can be utilized to facilitate communication in a highly collaborative and extremely mobile environment.

There are a number of communication methods used in healthcare, each with different properties. They may be synchronous or asynchronous, mobile or fixed, and secure or unsecure. It is usually up to the healthcare administrator to determine the most effective way to communicate with their target population and with other members of the organization.

The majority of communication done between patient and physician is synchronous. Synchronous methods such as telephones and face-to-face meetings allow for clear communication of ideas and detailed information. This may not always be feasible, particularly for information that is very time-sensitive since it could lead to delays in treatment, due to missed calls or telephone tag.

Asynchronous methods allow participants to communicate when it is convenient or practical. These methods, including blogging, email, traditional mail, and texting, may be used with the information isn't urgent or life-threatening.

Another characteristic of communication is whether it is done through fixed or wireless (mobile) connectivity. Because of recent advances in technology, many of the communications methods that were once fixed are now wireless. This gives greater flexibility to communications methods such as telephones. Where physicians once went back to their offices to call patients, this can now be done at any time from a cellular phone.

Finally, security in healthcare communication is very important. If information is very private, ensuring that only the patient views that information is paramount. Understanding security issues related to communicating via the internet is important when determining which communication method to use to reach a target population.

Course Project - Develop an Overall Strategy

After developing a set of objectives, the strategy necessary for accomplishing those objectives must be formulated. Based on the strategy template presented in the lecture, write a 2-3 page paper describing the elements of your strategy. Here is where you give a synopsis of your plan, what you want to do, how you want to do it, in broad terms. Keep in mind that in Week Eight you will develop an Action Plan describing how you will accomplish each of your objectives, so don't get too detailed yet. Think of this paper as the summary you would provide to a Board of Directors or Funding Agency. Be sure to format your paper per APA standards and be sure to use in-text citations where necessary. Also, be sure to include a reference page when required

Lesson Content - Strategic Planning in Healthcare

It is important to note that strategy must come from the organization's mission, vision and objectives. It provides an outline of the overall approach for reaching the objectives identified in the planning process. It gives the organization a roadmap of where it wants to be and how it will get there. Based on the objectives, the strategy will help answer the following broad questions:

What will we do? (What specific needs will we try to meet)
Who will we do it for? (Who is our target population)
How will we do what we want to do?

Strategic Template:

If you are adding or expanding a program (growth strategy):

Alternative Strategy 1

Pros
Cons

Alternative Strategy 2

Pros
Cons

If you are improving on an existing program (stability strategy):
Alternative Strategy 1

Pros

Cons

Alternative Strategy 2

Pros
Cons

If you are reducing or eliminating a program or location (retrenchment strategy):

Alternative Strategy 1

Pros
Cons

Alternative Strategy 2

Pros
Cons

Course Project - Prosed Action Plan

This module you will develop the action plan for your strategic plan. The action, or operational, plan identifies exactly what services will be provided and the exact nature of those services. Write a 1-2 page paper where you describe your action plan. Be sure to format your paper per APA standards and be sure to use at least two sources and cite those sources in the paper. Also, be sure to include a reference page.

Lesson content - Leading for Action

Healthcare Leadership

Healthcare organizations (HCOs) face turbulent times. Changes in technology, funding, regulations, demographics and more make leading and managing HCOs even more challenging.

Sound familiar?

Healthcare administrators have always been expected to have financial experience and operational expertise. These days, that is the minimum expectation for healthcare administrators. Now they are expected to have additional skills in leadership, communication and management of rapid technological change.

Leadership skills: Today's healthcare administrator is expected to encourage and foster a culture of innovative thinking and problem-solving. Creating an organizational culture where people are encouraged to think creatively, take risks, and challenge pre-existing notions of "this is how it has always been done" will help make an organization more competitive and cutting-edge.

Communication skills: Effective communication is an important leadership skill for two reasons. First, the healthcare workforce is becoming increasingly diverse and healthcare administrators must be able to not only talk to, but listen to, a variety of individuals. Diversity will come, not only through people of different races, cultures and genders but also people from different professions, educational backgrounds, forms of expertise, and knowledge bases. Second, healthcare administrators, who frequently come from a non-medical background, must be able to communicate effectively with physicians. Many in healthcare consider the ability to develop effective physician relations to be a core competency for new healthcare administrators.

Change Management skills: Today's healthcare administrator is also expected to manage the rapid changes in technology by knowing how to ask the right questions of the right experts in order to quickly meet organizational needs for technology. With the ever-changing technological landscape, healthcare administrators must be able to keep up in order to ensure the organization's competitiveness.