For Expert_Researcher ONLY Assessment 5-3

Parkland Health & Hospital System Strategy Plan

Michelle Santiago

Capella University

Parkland Health & Hospital System Strategy Plan

Parkland Health & Hospital System is located in Dallas County, Texas in the United States. The institution’s headquarters are in Parkland Memorial Hospital, which is also in Dallas. The hospital came into being in 2009 following the award of the Dream Study Award to the district by the Planning Council of the Greater Dallas (Parkland Health & Hospital System, 2017). Upon its establishment, the hospital prioritized patients within the district who were considered to be at a greater risk of hospital readmissions. At that early stage, the hospital focused on patients suffering from congestive heart failure. Following the expansion and upgrading of its facilities, the hospital focused on providing quality healthcare to patients with pneumonia, acute myocardial infarctions, and both types of diabetes. Currently, the hospital system operates more than 10 community clinics and various youth and family centers (Parkland Health & Hospital System, 2017).

Knowledge Economy Management Approaches

Performance and growth prospects for Parkland Health & Hospital System are largely dependent on the management’s capacity to integrate various knowledge economy management approaches that are known to spur efficiency and guarantee competitive advantages. The institution will need to rely on a wide range of intellectual capabilities in order to guarantee high value returns. Management should explore ways of harnessing the unique advantages of the information society in Dallas and beyond in order to engage in strategic restructuring of its processes across all its departments. Given the fact that the hospital system operates multiple clinics and youth and family centers, there is the need to upgrade the institutions data management processes with the goal of ensuring crucial information and data is properly managed (Pascuci, Júnior&Crubellate, 2017).

The multiple innovative possibilities of the data management systems should be applied to harmonize the processes between the subsidiaries and the parent company in order to promote effectiveness in the decision-making processes of the organization. The overall idea should be eliminate the delays and inefficiencies that are usually experienced during the transfer of vital information from one point of the hospital to another. Maintaining crucial information regarding patients and determining the steps of the various processes within the institution requires efficient data management systems that allow the staff to share information across the ranks of the organization (Pascuci, Júnior & Crubellate, 2017).

Recent Research

A study by Lee, Ghapanchi, Talaei-Khoei and Ray (2015) focused on the crucial role that information systems play in strategic planning. According to the findings of the study, the element of efficiency in healthcare institutions is largely determined by the manner in which the institution improves the efficiency of its information system to meet the dynamic needs of the industry. One of the outstanding findings of the study was that the provision of improved quality of care and the enhancement of the value for money was largely dependent on the manner in which the healthcare facilities could incorporate innovative information systems into their systems. The study acknowledges the growing of trend of increased investment by many healthcare facilities into the information systems as exemplified by widespread adoption of Strategic Information System Planning (SISP).

A notable insight from the study is that SISP is a crucial factor that can be relied upon by organizations to make informed managerial decisions which are pertinent to the general growth of the organization. Despite the fact that Parkland Health & Hospital System is managed by a highly efficient information system, there are ways in which it could adopt the proposed healthcare systems to improve its general performance in all its areas. The large size of this hospital system makes it appropriate for the incorporation of the latest innovative technologies that could promote overall efficiency in the management of the core processes such as the handling of treatment and prevention processes including the coordination of the various services that are pertinent to strategic management of the entire institution.

Operational and Financial Components

Various operational and financial components should be included into the institution’s strategic planning process in order to spur efficiency. The operational components should include both short-term plans and long-term plans that are consistent with the institution’s mission and vision. Management should consider reviewing its current model to compensate for any imbalances that may undermine the overall functioning of the institution. The overall idea should be adopt highly effective metrics that are crucial for the achievement of the institutional goals. One of the challenges that the institution faces at present is the development of a balanced resource allocation system that would enhance the attainment of the organization’s overall goals without compromising on its performance.

The expansion of the scope of collaboration with partners in Dallas should constitute a major operational objective for the organization. Establishing soundness in cash flow management is necessary in order to guarantee future investments in areas of priority such as the expansion of the hospitals areas of specialty (Pascuci, Júnior & Crubellate, 2017). The hospital system should also review its asset management system in order to achieve the set benchmarks of the institution. The reliance on data will be crucial for ensuring that the hospital’s assets are managed in the proper manner in order to guarantee sustainability. The proper management of the resources is important for ensuring that the specific health needs in Dallas are met within the limits of the hospital’s resources. Risk assessments should be a crucial part of the management’s overall strategy. Tax optimization and the adoption of effective growth indices should also be part of the envisioned strategy.

Strategies for Competitive Advantage

Remuneration management shall constitute an important aspect of the strategy. A merit-based payment system shall be introduced to inspire and motivate hard working employees. Secondly, the organization shall focus on unique rewards for loyal employees who have served in the organization for several years. The idea is to reduce the threat of staff turnover, which usually undermines the performance of many healthcare organizations. Staff retention strategies constitute an important part of organizations’ competitive advantage (Lyons, Lecca & Valentine, 2013).

Management should also raise the benchmarks of quality and performance above market standards. Quality shall entail the elimination of emergency room waiting times and follow up strategies for chronically ill patients. The objective is to increase the level of patient satisfaction and increase the chances of their loyalty to the organization. Increasing the budget for marketing shall be used to reach out to the Dallas population though a wide range of strategies such as television commercials, newspaper ads, and billboards.

Organizational Structure

Parkland Health & Service System will adopt a formal and centralized organizational structure as a strategy to increase efficiency of processes. Given the vast network of healthcare institutions that fall under the organization, it will be necessary to embrace a standardized system in order to nurture a participatory and collaborative approach on patient care. In order to achieve that all entities within the organization will adopt the same electronic medical record system, this will decrease the amount of redundant and repetitive data collection and encourage collaboration between different facilities and departments. In addition, standardization will help decrease errors and thus help to increase patient safety and satisfaction as well as the organization’s quality outcome measures. Besides, organizational restructuring it would also be helpful to evolve leadership roles and help newly recruited leaders to sharpen their insights and leadership skills ( Hopp & Lovejoy, 2014).The new managers to be deployed across the organization’s networks shall have the responsibility of making certain decisions that are consistent with their jurisdiction. It is expected that this system shall spur wider participation by employees across all levels into the core processes or the organization.

Changes in the organizational structure usually necessitate the redefinition of roles with focus on the manner in which the general efficiency of the organization could be achieved (Lyons, Lecca & Valentine, 2013). Critical to the performance of the organization is improvement of staff performance by optimizing the skills and talents of the employees through expanded roles, responsibilities and recognition.

Conclusion

Parkland Health & Hospital System Strategy plan focuses on novel approaches, including those related to knowledge management approaches, as well as, organizational structure among others. The strategic plan drawn focuses on utilization of technology, tax obligation maximization, elimination of the delays and inefficiencies, redefinition of roles, as well as, risk assessment and management. These will help in improving the current state of the organization.

References

Hopp, W. J., & Lovejoy, W. S. (2014). Hospital operations: Principles of high efficiency health care. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education.

Lee, T., Ghapanchi, A., H., Talaei-Khoei, A., & Ray, P. (2015).Strategic information system planning in healthcare organizations. Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, 27 (2), 1-31.

Lyons, K. &Lecca, P., J. & Valentine, P. (2013). Allied health: Practice issues and trends into the new millennium. London: Routledge.

Parkland Health & Hospital System (2017). Home page. Retrieved from https://www.parklandhospital.com/phhs/home.aspx

Pascuci, L. M., Júnior, V. M., &Crubellate, J. M. (2017). Strategic management in hospitals: tensions between the managerial and institutional lens. BAR - Brazilian Administration Review, 14(2), 1-21. 

APPENDIX 1: TOWS MATRIX