Strategic Plan Part II – Environmental Analysis and Strategic Goal Setting

Strategic Plan Part II – Environmental Analysis and Strategic Goal Setting

Health Care Strategic Management

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Environmental analysis is very vital in the business world because it identifies potential as well as current opportunities or threats that may be found within the external environment of any organization. The external environment consists of the political, technological, societal and environmental fad that will directly or indirectly affects the organization in its entirety. Usually, an environmental analysis is governed to show the strengths, opportunities, threats and weaknesses while a strategic plan is being established. An environmental analysis should take place annually or semi-annually depending on business and its industry. This will allow the organization to sustain a competitive advantage where they are able to distinguish or associate certain circumstances or settings within the external environment.

There are various implications of environmental analysis when creating a strategic plan. One of the key focuses of environmental analysis is the growth of the company. Outside environmental factors have a great impact on the development of the strategic plan and must be thoroughly inspected before the plan is devised. These factors are determinants in whether or not the proposal can be inaugurated. Growth opportunities is another vital aspect of the environmental analysis. There are always opportunities for the company to flourish even when the external factors are not completely in the organization’s favor. Technology is consistently evolving and enhances the opportunity to boost the company’s day to day operations. There are various aspects that could be taken into consideration to ensure the positive traits to pursue the business.

As a component of strategic planning, there are some major benefits of competitive analysis. Planners have the freedom to broaden within the market. The competitor mapping tool clarifies how one’s competitors position themselves within the industry or market. It gives the competitive landscape within the area as well as enabling them to understand what the company product is up against and how it can be efficiently be positioned. This tool is central to the planning process as it is used for markets gaps for various organizations and in various business industries. Another benefit is product development where the company is able to gain an advantage on competitors by learning and utilizing the knowledge of what products competitors are developing. Competitive analysis reveals market trends and allows organizations to distinguish the difference between their products and/or services in order to target opportunities which gives them an overall advantage.

Vitas Healthcare Hospice and Palliative Care’s strategic plan can be and has been affected by an economic crisis. Legal and regulatory issues can also be a factor. These are the biggest threats that the company can face within the health care industry. In the external environment, there are some common elements such as regulatory issues. Other legal issues could include limiting regulations, employment laws, and lawsuits. Economic issues that could affect the strategic plan include budgets for the legal costs.

Vitas Healthcare Hospice and Palliative Care does have and has proven its capability to accomplish the company’s mission, vision, goals and objectives as indicated in the strategic plan. There were several external factors that influenced the overall quality of the organization. The external environment was balanced by producing a number of opportunities in addition to the challenges produced through the external environment. The company evaluated the data that was collected and compared to the capabilities of Vitas and then analyzed. The SWOT analysis was used to put the factors (strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities) into perspective. It was realized that even though the external environment produces challenges, it also gives the company a number of opportunities.The company stays ahead of other competitors because of the services that are offered. Internally, the company is consistent giving prominence to the company’s corporate identity and the overall external environment.

Though challenges were very obvious, Vitas was able to not only respond, but to also turn those challenges into positive factors for the company. The internal environment signifies factors, events, systems, people, conditions, and structures within the organization. The internal environment is under the control of the organization. The culture of the organization, the company’s mission, and the leadership style were among the unwavering factors that allow the company to respond to the internal and external factors.Stability and the strength of an organization mean that the company is not likely to get as many threats from the outside environment. The company’s activities, management’s decisions and attitudes and performance of the employees all have an influence on the internal environment.

The external environment includes factors that take place outside of the company that is not within the organization’s control. These factors may cause changes to take place within the internal environment. Some common external factors include competitors, technology, the economy, resources and other social and political factors. Management had the opportunity to respond to these changes and took the initiative to adapt and overcome these forces and make them work for the company.

The company experienced several drawbacks and since then, changes have been made within the environment that has had a major impact on the decisions that have been made by the company. The hospice industry has also suffered some changes due to the recent recession.During the past economic recession, Vitas chose to modify their service arrangements to maintain and improve their resource flows. According to Pearce (2013), the remote environment compromises aspects that derives beyond the bounds and usually regardless of any single company’s operational circumstance: 1) economic, 2) social, 3) political, 4) technological and 5) ecological factors.

Each factor also represent an opportunity for advancement.In the healthcare environment, there are two factors that make services different from other organizations. First, many providers are organized as not for profit corporations as opposed to being investor owned and secondly payment for services are typically rendered by third parties rather than the patients that receive the services. (Hon, 2014).These factors include acceptance of the patients’ defined life expectation, referrals to the hospice program, governmental policies and whether or not the programs provide hospice care for terminally ill children. Hospices are influenced by the institutional nature of the hospice industry and are often pressured to conform to the rules, regulations, norms and beliefs about providing end of life care by key shareholders such as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Lindley, 2012).

In order to accomplish the objectives of the organization, some measurable goals were established for the next three to five years. The goal of the first year would be to maintain sufficient resources for the organization.Because care for the elderly brings in a steady revenue stream due to Medicare funding, hospices tend to compete for such admissions.In addition to hospice services, the organization is making plans tooffer Telecare, Music Therapy, Bereavement and Grief Resources, Care for Veterans and Paw Pals Pet Visits whichwill all be designed based on the patients’ needs.The aspiration for Vitas is to continue to be the best health care company in the eyes of our customers, community and people and to reach our goals by meeting the needs and expectations of our customers with improvement in quality, efficiency, values and new services. (Vitas Healthcare).

The second goal would be to outsource which is a huge stratagem in the business world today. Most hospice organizations outsource coding to focus on their main priority which is to spend more time on patient care and less on other long and drawn out processes. Outsourcing medical coding can bring several advantages for the company such as increased revenue, fewer coding errors, mire time for core operations, knowledgeable coders and advanced technology and savings on miscellaneous costs just to name a few. (5 Advantages of Outsourcing Medical Coding). Vitas is looking to access comprehensive hospice services for members in the nation. (Vitas Innovative Hospice Care). This will be very beneficial to the organization as this is a way that the company is able to receive insight on if the company needs improvement andas a result they are able to take the necessary steps needed to improve the care process.

VITAS has developed effective protocols that are customized for each patient and family. These protocols remain the same at each and every facility. Functional tactics transforms company methods into ordinary endeavors that should be administered. The third goal is to ensure that there are enough staff members to provide the services that are being offered. Vitas intends to ensure that the company is consistent giving prominence to the company’s corporate identity and the overall external environment.

References

Hon, J. (2014, January 9). The Healthcare Environment. Retrieved from

http://www.researchgate.net/…/51109525_Internal_and_external…

Lindley, Lisa “Factors Associated with the Provision of Hospice Care.” August 24, 2012.

Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/…

Pearce, J. A. & Robinson, R. B. (2013). Strategic Management: Planning for Domestic and Global Competition (13th ed). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

“Vitas Healthcare.” Vitas Healthcare Services Limited | About Us. Web. Retrieved from

http://www.vitashealthcareservices.com/about-us/>.

5 Advantages of Outsourcing Medical Coding. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.medicalhealth.com/management-solutions/