Term Paper on "Healthcare Strategic Planning and Management"

Term Paper 8 pages (2211 words) Sources: 5 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Healthcare Strategic Planning & Management

Strategic Planning and Management

SKMC Healthcare Organization

The syntax of strategic planning generally refers to a multitude of processes and methodologies used to collect and analyze data in order to assist the management in taking the most effective decisions for the company. A more proper definition of strategic planning would that of "a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the future."

The result of strategic planning is a plan that the company will implement in order to achieve the desired goals (for instance reduce costs, improve the quality of their services or increase the satisfaction of their personnel). However, in order to indeed achieve these goals, the process of strategic planning has to be accurate, objective and highly critical.

Specialized economists have developed a step-by-step scheme for strategic planning which, if correctly applied, would insure the successful outcome of the process. In this order of ideas, however the sources on the matter vary, the most agreed scheme includes the following steps: developing a situational analysis that describes the company and its current problems needing to be solved; stating the company's vision, mission and objectives to be reached; elaborating the SWOT analysis to identify internal and external factors that influence the company and finally, proposing justified solutions to the problems encountered and means of achieving the company's goals.

2. Situational analysis

The situational analysis is the first step in elaborating the strategic plan and it refers to shortly describing the company analyzed, its current environment and the future possibilities of action.

Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) is a healthcare facility situated in Abu Dhabi (the capital of the United Arab Emirates), endowed with the best medical equipment and medical doctors and "aspiring to practice contemporary medicine comparable to the best hospitals and medical centers in the world." According to the SKMC chief executive officer, the hospital treats most all diseases and affections and in doing so they base their activity on maximum patient satisfaction.

The Sheihk Khalifa Medical City is the largest and most modern medical care facility and in the relatively short period since it was opened (February 2000) is has managed to change the lives of United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.). "In the recent past, citizens of the U.A.E. often traveled out of country to the U.K. Or the U.S.A. For health care. However, with the opening of SKMC, more services and complex care can be provided within the country," writes the International Hospital Recruitment Center of Canada.

The most important departments within the hospital include: Admission / Registration Information Technology, Anesthesia Internal Audit, Biomedical Engineering, Cardio-respiratory, Clinical Dietetics, Emergency Medicine Pediatrics, Intensive Care Security and Surgery.

Another issue adherent to the situational analysis refers to identifying the current problem facing the SKMC. A significant lack in the activity of new hospitals is qualified personnel, lack encountered by SKMC as well.

During the past few years, SKMC has suffered some major changes in order to reduce costs, increase efficiency and improve the quality of the patients' treatment. However, a great emphasis placed on reducing costs and recruiting the highly specialized medical doctors has estranged management's attention from the nursing staff. The latter felt that the treatment they were receiving was unfair and began to leave their jobs, leaving SKMC in a nursing staff crisis.

3. Mission, vision, values and objectives

Mission: "Sheikh Khalifa Medical City is committed to providing internationally accredited quality healthcare in a compassionate and culturally sensitive manner." In other words, the mission of SKMC is to offer the best quality medical care at international level, promoting both attention and compassion towards the patients, as well as preserving the culture of the Arab Emirates and of the patients committed within the hospital.

Vision: "We will provide evidence-based best practice through an international team of qualified professionals incorporating an appreciation for cultural diversity in a caring environment." Otherwise said, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City promises the best quality of their services, medical care and surgeries performed by doctors of international prestige and vast knowledges in the field.

The values promoted by SKMC are summarized in the acronym PRACTICES and stand for: Professionalism, Respect, Accountability, Compassion, Teamwork, Integrity, Community, Education and Safety.

However the main goal or objective of SKMC is to offer the best medical care for the citizens of the United Arab Emirates as well as to foreign patients, the current goal is to overcome the nurse staff crisis by new recruitments and hiring.

4. SWOT analysis

The SWOT analysis is a process throughout which the management can identify the internal and external factors that influence the company. The internal factors refer to the company's strengths and weaknesses, whereas the external factors refer to the opportunities offered and threats posed by the environment. A SWOT analysis can be conducted for several purposes, in this case the main purpose being that of discovering the factors that might influence the hospital in solving their nursing staff crisis.

Strengths

The strengths of the SKMC refer to the internal factors that would have a beneficial influence upon the process of recruiting and hiring new nursing personnel. For instance, the hospital's reputation and the nature of their activity. Sheikh Khalifa Medical City is internationally renowned for the high quality of their services and working within this clinic would be an immense opportunity to be among and learn from the best medical personnel in the U.A.E.

Moreover, another internal argument in favor of working within the SKMC is the hospital's policy regarding its employees. The medical staff at SKMC are all being respected and treated in accordance with their own culture and religious convictions without any discrimination.

Furthermore, another strength is represented by the hospital's coverage of employees' certain living expenses. For instance, the SKMC insures housing for both single and married employees, with the specification that single employees will have to share rooms with their same sex colleagues. Also, the hospital will cover part of the living expenses such as furniture allowance, water and electricity, telephone allowance, transportation and educational allowance. Another element considered a strength is the 42 days annual leave granted to all employees.

Weaknesses

Among the internal arguments against working for SKMC could be the relatively limited living expense coverage. All expenses subjected to deductions are limited by a fix budget, which generally only covers insignificant expenses. For instance, telephone expenses are only covered for locals phone calls, calls barely existent for foreign employees. If an abroad employee wishes to make long distance phone calls, he needs to install a separate telephone device and pay for all additional expenses.

Also, however the existence of housing facilities is an argument in favor, the actual facilities are only meant to insure minimal necessities and are far from being luxurious. "All SKMC housing is furnished with essential articles. These items might not be to every person's liking or unique tastes, but are certainly adequate."

Opportunities

There are two external opportunities, or the arguments in favor of working within the SKMC, offered by the environment. The first one is the lack of other major medical clinics in the area, making the SKMC the most developed hospital and a desired work place for Arabian medical personnel. The second one is the actual location of the hospital, in the heart of the Arab Emirates, a zone that might be considered attractive by some foreigners. By working for the SKMC, they could get a first-hand insight of the Arabian lifestyle and culture.

Threats

However it was mentioned in the opportunities section, the location of the hospital could also be considered a threat in the meaning that foreign potential employees might find the Arab Emirates an unattractive and unsafe region of the globe, therefore might hesitate in applying for a position within the Sheikh Khalifa Medical City.

Furthermore, in preserving the Arabian ways and culture, all SKMC employees are required to follow a strict dressing code.

5. Strategies

The insufficiency of nurses is generally due to the low number of experienced and trained personnel within the United Arab Emirates and the unattractiveness of the region to foreign medical personnel. In order to change this negative view point and attract new employees, both Arab as well as other nations, to solve the nursing staff crisis, SKMC could implement some of the following strategies:

Post job advertisements

The first step in solving the problem is nationally and internationally acknowledging its existence and finding ways to communicate with those who have the power to solve it. In order to communicate with the local potential employees, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City could post job advertisements in the local newspapers to inform Arabs of the job openings and benefits of working within SKMC.

To best communicate with abroad nurses, the management of SKMC should post job advertisements in international newspapers specialized in medical personnel recruitment and also online. For instance, they could place the job offers on the… READ MORE

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