Jackie and Sandra began a long-term-care consulting firm 5 years ago in a retirement region. They now have six employees: 2 RHIAs and 4 RHITs. They have consulting contracts with 35 long-term-care facilities and have developed a reputation for excellence.
During a meeting with the employees, Jackie and Sandra commended them for the effort each had contributed to the success of the firm. In planning for the future, Jackie and Sandra then asked the employees to share with them Ideas on expanding the business by revising the vision. One option they had discussed was that of expanding their geographic region into another state. This would mean actively marketing to long-term-care facilities beyond their present region and hiring additional staff.
Bryan said he had been listening to employee conversations at a nearby hospital and learned that there was a need for additional home health care are personnel and resources in the region. Hospital utilization management staff expressed concern with the difficulty of referring patients promptly to home health care firms. Bryan thought developing and managing home health care as a separate cost center would fill this market niche and offer challenges for the firm.
Ann shared an experience she had at one of the nursing homes. Two physicians were telling her how difficult it was to hire knowledgeable office staff and retain them. Ann suggested expanding their business into physician offices. She felt they had the expertise to manage practice offices and train competent staff. Ann further stated that when she mentioned this need to a physical therapist who recently joined a group of fellow therapists in opening an office, her friend responded that such a service would be welcome. Then he related the difficulty they were having finding competent office managers.
Jackie, Sandra, and their staff have three options to consider as they undertake strategic planning
QUESTIONS:
1.Explain the steps to conduct a SWOT analysis to evaluate expansion of their geographic region into another state to serve additional long-term-care facilities.
2Explain how any expansion of services could impact the organization’s mission statements, values statements, and vision.
3Outline the components that should be included in a detailed business plan for an expansion of services.
The last Joint Commission report for Community Hospital was unfavorable with regard to employee ongoing education. Top executives admitted they set other priorities and the managers concurred. Overall the report was very good and the managers were pleased, but determined to focus on education during the coming year.
With this mandate, upper-level management developed one corporate objective relating to education as the budget process for the coming year began. This corporate objective read:
Corporate objective III: To educate health care professionals within the enterprise to meet the health care needs of society and to define 5-year plans to meet educational needs for several professional groups.
The corporate objectives were distributed and discussed at a meeting with middle managers. The responsibility for developing departmental objectives for the coming year was delegated to the managers. Community Hospital culture was participative in nature and the flowchart in Figure 5-1 in your text describes the communication process as the managers shared the vision with the teams and the team leaders empowered individual employees to offer suggestions.
QUESTIONS:
1.Develop a list of potential ongoing educational objectives for health information services to meet corporate objective III for the coming year.
2.Provide an example of where automation could lend valuable assistance in solving this managerial problem.
3.Explain how suggestions provided by employees, as outlined in the flowchart in Figure 5-1, could impact meeting this corporate objective.
Expert Solution Preview
Introduction:
As a medical professor, I have been tasked with providing answers to college assignments for medical college students. In this particular assignment, we will be addressing two scenarios related to healthcare management. We will discuss the steps to conduct a SWOT analysis for a long-term-care consulting firm considering expansion, and potential ongoing educational objectives for a healthcare organization to meet a corporate education objective.
Answer to content:
1. To conduct a SWOT analysis for the long-term-care consulting firm considering expansion, we would need to follow these steps:
a. Define the objective of the analysis – The objective of the analysis is to determine the feasibility of expanding the business into another state and identify the factors that may impact the success of the expansion.
b. Identify strengths of the business – This would include the expertise of the employees, reputation for excellence, and consulting contracts with 35 long-term-care facilities.
c. Identify weaknesses of the business – This would include any internal factors that could hinder the success of the expansion, such as lack of resources and experience in the new geographic region.
d. Identify opportunities in the new market – This would include factors such as a need for additional home health care personnel and the difficulty of hiring competent office staff.
e. Identify potential threats – This would include external factors that could impact the success of the expansion, such as economic conditions, competition, and changes in regulations.
2. Any expansion of services could impact the organization’s mission statements, values statements, and vision. The organization would need to consider how the expansion aligns with their mission and values and whether it supports their long-term vision. They would also need to update their statements to reflect any changes in their services or focus.
3. A detailed business plan for an expansion of services would need to include the following components:
a. Executive summary – This should provide an overview of the plan and highlight key points.
b. Market analysis – This should identify the target market, competition, and demand for the services.
c. Service description – This should describe the new services and how they will be delivered.
d. Management and organization – This should detail the structure of the new business unit, including the roles and responsibilities of employees.
e. Financial plan – This should include projected revenue and expenses, cash flow statements, and a break-even analysis.
f. Implementation plan – This should detail the steps required to implement the expansion, including timelines and resource requirements.
g. Risk analysis – This should identify potential risks and provide a plan to mitigate them.
1. Potential ongoing educational objectives for health information services to meet corporate objective III for the coming year could include:
a. Developing and implementing a comprehensive training program for electronic health record (EHR) usage and maintenance.
b. Conducting regular HIPAA and security awareness training for all healthcare professionals to ensure compliance with regulations and protect patient information.
c. Providing continuing education opportunities for coding and billing staff to ensure accurate reimbursement and minimize denials.
d. Offering advanced training for clinical documentation improvement (CDI) specialists to enhance the accuracy and completeness of medical documentation.
2. Automation could lend valuable assistance in solving this managerial problem by providing access to online training modules that can be completed at the employee’s own pace. This would eliminate the need for in-person training sessions and allow for more flexibility in scheduling.
3. Suggestions provided by employees, as outlined in the flowchart, could impact meeting this corporate objective by providing valuable insight into the educational needs of different departments. By empowering individual employees to offer suggestions, the organization can develop a more comprehensive training program that addresses the specific needs of each department. This can lead to increased engagement and buy-in from employees, resulting in a more successful implementation of the training program.
