Required Readings

Note: To access this week’s required Harvard Business Review resources, select the article link and navigate to the relevant article or go back to Blackboard and select Harvard Business Articles from the course navigation menu.

Harris, J.M. (2017). Healthcare strategic planning (4th ed). Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.

  • Chapter 2, ” Benefits of Strategic Planning” (pp. 25-48)
  • Chapter 4, “Major Planning Process Considerations” (pp. 63-82)
  • Chapter 5, “Encouraging Strategic Thinking” (pp. 83-105)

Discussion: Measures of Organizational Performance

When you are assigned a task, what do you do first? Do you think about evaluating and planning what to do or do you just jump right in and get to work? Many of us don’t have much time to plan, or at least we don’t think we do. Some healthcare professionals find planning boring and prefer to just get started without a second thought. Strategic planning is preparing for the future. It is deliberate, purposeful, and thoughtful. Some individuals do not realize how vital planning is to their own success or to that of their organization. It is vital to plan because it allows you to outline measurable goals, provide direction, evaluate progress, and assist you in decision making.

In this Discussion, you will select a healthcare organization and examine its performance, analyzing how strategic planning and marketing may affect and improve that organization.

To prepare for this Discussion:

Review this week’s Learning Resources, especially Jennifer Wilkerson’s discussion from this course’s Interactive Media.

Analyze the Hospital Competitor Performance document that provides further information (sample indicators of performance) in reference to Waldenville profiles and choose one of the healthcare organizations from this document as the focus of your work in this Discussion. Read about one of the Waldenville healthcare organizations.

By Day 4

Post a comprehensive response to the following:

  • Identify the healthcare organization you have chosen. You may decide to choose one of the healthcare organizations located in this week’s optional resources or you may select one you have learned about through your research.
  • Identify and explain which two measures of organizational performance you would recommend for the healthcare organization you have selected? Explain why.
  • Explain how the two measures of organizational performance you selected advance the operational improvement of strategic planning and marketing for the healthcare organization you have chosen.

Support your work with specific citations from this week’s Learning Resources and/or additional scholarly sources as appropriate. Your citations must be in APA format.

Expert Solution Preview

Introduction:

This assignment involves selecting a healthcare organization and analyzing its performance in terms of strategic planning and marketing. It requires identifying two measures of organizational performance for the chosen healthcare organization and explaining how these measures advance the operational improvement of strategic planning and marketing.

Answer:

The healthcare organization chosen for this assignment is Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, located in Los Angeles, California.

The two measures of organizational performance recommended for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are patient satisfaction and financial performance.

Patient satisfaction is a critical measure of organizational performance for any healthcare organization. It reflects the level of satisfaction patients have with the services they receive and their overall experience at the healthcare facility. In a highly competitive market, high levels of patient satisfaction can result in increased patient loyalty, improved reputation, and increased business. Hence, this measure can be used to advance the operational improvement of strategic planning and marketing for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Financial performance is another important measure of organizational performance for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. It involves assessing the financial health of the organization in terms of its revenue, profitability, and cash flow. Improving financial performance can help the organization to invest in new technologies, hire more staff, and expand its services. By emphasizing financial performance, the organization can also ensure that it remains competitive in the market and can attract and retain top talent.

Overall, focusing on patient satisfaction and financial performance can help Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to improve its strategic planning and marketing efforts. By improving patient satisfaction, the organization can attract new patients, retain existing patients, and enhance its reputation. By improving financial performance, the organization can ensure its long-term sustainability, improve its offerings, and expand its reach.