Without proper strategic planning, any company will make itself susceptible to large risks.
Take Hummer. Throughout the 2000s, the automotive maker continued to build large, gas-guzzling vehicles despite the fact strict emission standards, rising oil prices and employee wage risks were becoming evident. By the end of the decade, Hummer sales plummeted, and GM eventually dissolved the Hummer division.
At the Becker's Hospital Review 5th Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 16, Barry Arbuckle, PhD, president and CEO of MemorialCare Health System, a six-hospital system based in Fountain Valley, Calif., explained that strategic planning could prevent major collapses like Hummer. And for health systems, "there is no more critical time than now to have a robust strategic planning process."
Strategic planning sounds nice in theory, and everyone likes to talk about it. But it needs to be more than lip service, he said. In fact, executives who don't think about and plant for their health system's future are doing so at their own risk. "Without a robust and dedicated strategic planning process, it's very likely I'd be unemployed," Dr. Arbuckle said.
Dr. Arbuckle outlined eight "keys" he believed are necessary for a successful health system strategic planning process today.
1. Building a timeline that allows for advanced education and study.
2. Creating a systemwide prioritization process. "Many times we have great ideas and don't put anyone in charge," Dr. Arbuckle said. "Or even worse, we put everyone in charge."
3. Developing cascading entity planning, better known as lean management strategies.
4. Linking to the 10-year financial plan and budgeting process.
5. Incorporating Kata, or Toyota, principles for detailed initiative planning.
6. Using 90-day cycle thinking to communicate key progress and next steps.
7. Utilizing deep dives for "gnarly issues" and consensus building.
8. Creating linkages into systemwide strategic marketing for patients, physicians and staff.
More Articles on Becker's Hospital Review 5th Annual Meeting:
Quality and Safety Under Healthcare Reform
4 Signs of Great Health Systems
3 Ways Leaders Can Ace Change Management