Sonoma Valley Hospital is a small rural hospital located in Sonoma, California. The 2010-2012 strategic plan aimed to address the hospital’s development in many areas of interest, including physicians recruitment, facility improvement, and competitive position advancement. The key goal of the strategic plan is to expand the hospital’s inpatient market share. Between 2006 and 2009, SVH’s market share declined by 5.1%, whereas market shares of its two key competitors, MGH and Queen of the Valley, grew by 22.3% and 28.9% respectively. To make up for the lost market share, the hospital has set out to develop new service lines, including orthopedic surgery, bariatric surgery, and OB/GYN service, as well as to promote its position in cardiovascular services. Thus, the responsible persons include the senior management, as well as the key staff in all the listed departments.
The key tactic used by the hospital to advance its market position is to increase the popularity of the specified service lines by developing a thorough business plan and marketing strategy, as well as by performing a thorough market study for each department or service to be promoted. The hospital also intends to become a Center of Excellence in bariatric and orthopedic surgery to increase the patient flow to these services. SVH also plans to collaborate with local companies (gyms for discounted memberships, hotels for travelling patients, etc.) and other hospitals as an extension strategy. The deadline for the strategic plan is the end of 2012 FY.
SVH SWOT analysis
Strengths
- minimal bureaucracy
- flexible leadership
- strong reputation
- stable workforce
- desirable location
- good quality controls
Weaknesses
- aging staff (physicians)
- weak historical performance
- low patient volumes
- low staff salaries
- lack of stability
SVH is a small hospital, which can be advantageous in some aspects. For instance, it has limited bureaucracy and good communication due to its flat organizational structure. It also has strong and flexible leaders who can motivate staff and attract new employees. The hospital also has a good reputation for the high quality of its services and is situated away from its major competitors.
However, there are also significant weaknesses to SVH. The mean age of physicians at the hospital is 55.1, which means that the majority of its workforce will retire in the near future. It also has low volume of patients and thus lacks financial stability. A history of financial difficulties also resulted in major cost cutting, which affected staff salaries.
Opportunities
- partnership opportunities
- aging local population
- emerging service lines
Threats
- unstable healthcare environment
- rising competition
- dependency on parcel taxes
One of the major opportunities for SVH is to develop a network of partners. The hospital has good connections within the community and is seeking to build both professional and creative partnerships. The demographic changes in the local community resulted in the aging of the population, which will lead to a higher demand for medical care in the future. Finally, the hospital contributes to its new service lines, such as orthopedic and bariatric surgery by recruiting reputable staff. If these service lines are promoted, they can potentially become highly profitable. Rising competition is among the key threats to SVH. Its two main competitors are growing rapidly and have solid reputation and satisfaction rates, which threatens the profitability of SVH in the future. The company is also influenced by shifts in the healthcare environment and depends highly on parcel taxes, which could make it less stable.
SVH Results
The current market share is unknown. However, from the available reports, it is clear that the target business line achieved substantial growth between 2010 and 2017. The hospital has recently been listed among the 25 top nation’s hospitals for quality, meaning that the company has managed to fulfil its strategic plan without sacrificing service quality. However, despite the fact that bariatric surgery is widely promoted, obesity remains among the key community needs, according to the 2016 CNA.
Overall, the SVH strategic plan was effective in growing the target business lines. Although there is no information available on the current market performance, it is likely that the market share of SVH has grown as a result of this strategy.
Atlantic General Hospital 2015-2020 strategic plan
Atlantic General Hospital is located in Berlin, Maryland and is a nonprofit institution. The 2015-2020 strategic plan does not provide detailed information on market share, profits, and other performance indicators. The objectives of the hospital are also not specified. Judging by the analytic information provided in the report, AGH’s key goal is to expand its community coverage. To achieve this goal, a cooperation between senior management, IT, and HR department is essential.
The key tactic to improve community service coverage is to promote the availability of services to local residents and to develop women’s health department, which currently has the lowest flow of patients. To provide for the needs of higher patient volumes, the hospital needs to recruit more qualified staff, including nurses and physicians, as well as to improve its IT infrastructure and use EMR efficiently. The deadline for achieving the goal is the end of 2019 FY.
AGH SWOT analysis
Strengths
- excellent rating for ER
- high community involvement
- geographical location
- collaboration with PHD
- Patient Centered Medical Home
- small but stable workforce
Weaknesses
- understaffed
- poor IT infrastructure
- ineffective analytics
AGH has a good reputation in the community and is involved in efforts for improving community health, which is a major strength of the hospital. It has recently launched its Patient Centered Medical Home that is a valuable competitive advantage. The hospital has a small but stable workforce.
The main weakness of the hospital is that it is understaffed and has poor IT infrastructure. This can obstruct the work with higher patient volumes.
Opportunities
- telemedicine
- women’s health
- community health improvement
- cost cutting
Threats
- healthcare environment
- recruitment
- reduced funding
Women’s health is among the key community health issues, and thus it can be addressed as part of AGH strategy. There are also opportunities for cost cutting, such as extensive use of telemedicine.
The current political climate and the changes to healthcare provision can affect the work of the hospital by decreasing its funding. Due to the low population of the area, it will also be hard for the hospital to recruit new professionals.
AGH result
Overall, the strategy of AGH is not effective in addressing its key concerns, as the plan does not offer a clear pathway to enhancing community coverage and promoting services. Nevertheless, the CNA indicates that the hospital has contributed to the fulfilment of community needs for women’s health services, although many other problems remain unaddressed, such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.