Strategic planning in healthcare organizations has been coming to the forefront in the recent decade due to the evolving nature of healthcare needs for the ever-growing population. The purpose of strategic planning is to bring the organization’s actions and capabilities in alignment with its overarching mission – to promote available, patient-centric, and value-based care (Clarke, 2019). Strategic planning allows for hospitals to be prepared for the challenges of the present and future to continue their mission without being overwhelmed.
Some of the factors that SF helps accounting for include the existing market trends in healthcare, the increasing pressure on the geriatric units, and the responses to new diseases. One example of the most recent developments includes COVID-19, which most hospitals were not prepared for (Ehrlich et al., 2020). This constitutes a failure on the strategic planning level, which caught the entirety of the world’s healthcare systems in a state of unreadiness (Ehrlich et al., 2020). Being capable of conducting an effective SF strategy is necessary for the organization to be successful and provide a suitably high level of service quality.
Factors that affect future planning in a healthcare organization include the digitalization of the documentation and control system, the presence or absence of dedicated planners, resources, and the overall demand for accurate predictions of demand. A well-developed IT system that encompasses the entirety of the hospital allows for accurately judging the organization’s capacities (Clarke, 2019). At the same time, planning on a national, regional, and continental level require cooperation between different healthcare agencies and governments, which depends on a variety of factors (Clarke, 2019). Good relations, dedication to public health, and coordinated investments into healthcare significantly affect future planning in healthcare.
References
Clarke, C. (2019). Textbook of Medical Administration and Leadership. Springer, Singapore.
Ehrlich, H., McKenney, M., & Elkbuli, A. (2020). Strategic planning and recommendations for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 38(7), 1446-1447.