Healthcare organizations (HCOs) face turbulent times. Changes in technology, funding, regulations, demographics and more make leading and managing HCOs even more challenging. Strategic planning allows healthcare administrators to anticipate and manage change. Doing so can enable HCOs to adapt, survive and even thrive.

It is important to perform both an external and internal environmental analysis. The external analysis will focus on opportunities and threats, while the internal analysis will focus on strengths and weaknesses.

Seven Factors to Evaluate in an External Analysis

Here are seven factors you should evaluate when conducting your external analysis:

1. Economic trends (local, regional, and national) such as inflation, unemployment, changes in personal income, changes in industry

(companies leaving your area or moving to it, for example), and changes in the cost of pharmaceuticals.

2. Demographic trends, including changes in birth rates, age groups, education levels, diversity, and even movement to and from

different areas of your geographic region.

3. Patient/Client trends such as changes in transportation services, insurance coverage, and managed care plans.

4. Service trends such as new services being offered or needed by clientele groups, purchases of smaller healthcare organizations by

national chains, and shifting of services into government sponsorship.

5. Competition trends, including competition to provide services from new or existing HCOs, competition for funding by new or existing

non-profits, and competition for patients from new or existing HCOs.

6. Workforce trends, including supply of healthcare professionals, educational opportunities for healthcare professionals, licensure

requirements, and future staffing needs.

7. Social trends such as changes in what patients want, need, require and value.

Four Areas to Assess in an Internal Analysis

There are four areas you should focus on when conducting your internal analysis:

1. Management systems - assess your management team. Are they willing to take risks? What are their values, skills, experiences? Are

they committed to the organization and its success? What is your corporate culture? What is the level of management support for

existing programs? Do they support strategic planning? Is planning done regularly? Is there management buy-in for your proposed

plan?

2. Marketing resources - assess your marketing strategies. How well does your organization communicate now? How can it

communicate with your target population? Is there a promotional team that can assist? How skilled are they at marketing? What

marketing resources does your organization have, including social media?

3. Operational systems - assess your operations. Does your organization have the service capacity for a new program? Does the cost

structure support a new program? Is the technology in place for a new program? Does the organization have the personnel who can

provide the services and manage the program?

4. Financial resources - assess your financial resources. Are there financial resources available for a new program? Are those resources

from existing funding sources or new? Is it grant money and thus may disappear in a few years? Can donations be solicited to support

the new program?

Performing an environmental analysis will allow an organization to anticipate and capitalize on opportunities, while managing or

minimizing threats.

By performing a situational analysis, planners can help anticipate and manage change. For the external environment, planners look at

opportunities and threats. For the internal environment, planners look at strengths and weaknesses. Reflect on the population you

selected (Which is Stroke Amongst African Americans). Think about (or research) what trends are impacting your population. In a 2 page

paper, list each of the environmental sectors (internal and external) described in the lecture this week. Briefly describe key

opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses for each of those sectors. Be sure to format your paper per APA standards and be

sure to use at least two sources and cite those in the paper. Also, be sure to include a reference page.