Strategic Planning at Duke Hospital: SWOT Analysis for Quality Services - Paper Example

Introduction

For the success and continued existence of any business entity, it’s advisable to have a guiding platform that will enhance the realization of goals, aims, Mission, vision, and dreams. Duke Hospital (DH) in Durham, North Carolina, USA, is one of the world's most leading health organizations, particularly in North Carolina. For these and many other reasons, Duke Hospital considers doing a strategic plan as one of the measures for delivering quality services. SWOT is a technique applied to identify an organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This paper aims to research strategic plan analysis, the validity of data and analytical strategies, stakeholders input and a balanced scorecard perspective that Duke Hospital applies to foresee realization of its goals, Mission and vision.

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The strategic plan analysis

According to Pisetsky (2006), when an enterprise lays down a qualitative strategic plan, it stands to thrive in its so set activities. For that reason, Duke Hospital leads in neurological programs. It has a proficient team of experts, and reliable specialists manage to offer the latest neurological treatments and other health facilities. It manages to offer education to clinical officers and has a reliable source of finance for its growth own development.

Duke Hospital also enjoys lucrative income from both local and global supply of medicines and other supportive materials from its vast innovations and scientific transformations. Duke Hospital manages to conduct quickly medical and health research from the University of Duke, hence putting it in a leading forefront of awful health innovations. Duke Hospital has over 369 inpatient bed capacities, and thus, it can accommodate many patients and thus win the public trust mainly. The Duke Hospital can hire and recruit some of the most competent experts and specialists. This personels puts it at the front line of attending to hilarious health problems facing the patients.

Duke Hospital focuses on customer satisfaction as a leading draft map to the realization of its goals. Similarly, Duke Hospital ensures that it upgrades its machines such as ventilators, ICU systems and surgical instruments as well as well trained and informed specialists so that it can keep on attending to the patients. On the same, Duke Hospital keeps on retraining its staff to the up-to-date equipment and tools allocated for the treatment and handling of the patients.

The priority put in ensuring customer service aligns with the organization's goal, Mission and vision of seeing it become the leading health organization in the world. Duke Hospital aims at conducting all types of surgical operations on the patients, and thus the establishments of up-to-date equipment and tools play a vital role in the realization of the aims.

The validity of data and analytical strategies of Duke Hospital

There are various factors that every organization must put into consideration for the development of key performance indicators and create a pleasant environment for its customers. Duke Hospital caters for patient satisfaction to ensure quality scores in the service delivery, dignity and respect in the attendance of the patients. It provides a comfortable and restful environment for the courteous treatment of the patients. It has allocated more than 369 inpatients bed capacity to ensure that the patients are well catered for at the vicinity by its well-equipped specialists and experts. The massive recruitment of the specialists and experts on statistical field facilitates its participation in a nationwide survey that helps in articulating how satisfied the customers are with their health care services on a survey known as Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS).

The availability of data is from the well-equipped specialists as well the up-to-date tools and equipment. Similarly, Duke Hospital cooperates with the healthcare laws and regulations under the different healthcare agencies, thus putting it at a continuous submission of healthcare services. The financial data of Duke Hospital is from the healthcare agencies and bodies such as the World Health Organization (WHO). Similarly, the massive attendance of patients keeps on toping up the financial capabilities of the Duke Hospital. Duke Hospital holds regular seminars for its staffs, and during seminars, resourceful information is collected and enhances the realization of Mission and vision laid down.

The Input of Duke's Hospital stakeholders

Hildenbrand, Jones, and Willie (2012) assert that there are several opportunities an organization can benefit from through proper strategic plans. It acts as an opportunity for the enhancement of goals and dreams. For instance, Duke Hospital manages to supply medical tools and equipment, medicines, and new findings worldwide as it has resourceful experts and specialists. They do come up with information and ideas of developing a given drug needed for the treatment of a mentioned health problem. The staffs are in continuous contact with the board of directors for the allocation of needed healthcare tools and submission of information on patients` progress and thus enhancing immediate action where needed.

Also, specialists and experts do ask for the development and installation of various surgical, neurological gadgets. The patents are attended, and in case of complaints, the information is later used in the evaluation and thus putting the organization on the track. Duke Hospital engages in public health awareness campaigns through its specialists for the collection of healthcare needs amongst the patients, which is used to develop a more efficient healthcare service delivery.

The Balanced scorecard perspective

This is a strategy performance controlling tool that is used to keep a track on activities delegated by the staff and to evaluate the consequences of the strategy applied, (MacPherson 2013). Duke Hospital deals with the four balanced scorecard domains: Financial, the Customer, Internal Process and Learning and Growth, to create value and lead to patients` satisfaction and its good financial performance. The scorecard clarifies to the organization which service would be most important to deliver in a target of realizing its Mission, vision and strategic plan.

Duke Hospital takes into consideration the cost of financial strain that would be incurred on developing various equipment such as neurological and theatre operating machines, (Bosch 2020). It then looks at the patients` satisfaction, and after balancing the two, it comes up with a more efficient method of handling the issue in hand.

Duke Hospital ensures smooth learning of internal processes by working on the waiting time of patients before being attended. It ensures there is proper flow of information regarding a patients` health condition before admission or discharge from the hospital. It keeps on working on the readmission rate as well as the length of stay of services to the clients.

Duke Hospital is in the long run of creating awareness to the patients on infectious diseases that are chipping globally, such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Similarly, it regularly updates its strategic database and makes it available in good time to the specialists as well as the patients. The organization's strategic plans are always in balance, thus limiting on wastage of resources and finance as well as doing work towards the set Mission and vision of becoming the leading healthcare service provider.

Recommendation

The Duke Hospital should try incorporating a more efficient means of managing the waiting lines of the patients. This would go a long way in fastening the realization of its goals.

Conclusion

Having a comprehensive strategic plan in an organization can boost the accomplishment of dreams, goals and realization of Mission and vision laid down by any enterprise. Duke Hospital having developed a competent strategic plan, is becoming more reliable in healthcare service delivery. Having a good patient interaction, Duke Hospital is in the line of developing reliable healthcare machines for service delivery to the patients.

References

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Hildenbrand, J., Jones, K., & Willie, N. (2012). An Analysis Of Sustainability Strategic Planning At Duke University (Doctoral dissertation, Duke University). https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/handle/10161/1

MacPherson, M. M., MacArthur, L., Jadan, P., Glassman, L., Bouzubar, F. F., Hamdan, E., & Landry, M. D. (2013). A SWOT analysis of the physiotherapy profession in Kuwait. Physiotherapy Research International, 18(1), 37-46. https://plexie.com/blog/how-to-make-a-swot-analysis/?utm_source=google-

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