WEEK 3 HMGT 495 RESP

Madison

MEMORANDUM

Date: March 31, 2023

To: Faculty, Mercy Hospital

From: Madison Greer, Healthcare Manager

Subject: Balanced Scorecard for Mercy Hospital

Intro

Balanced scorecards are utilized in hospitals nationwide since the early 1990s (Kocakülâh, 2007 (Wanga, 2022) to best translate strategy into 4 points of focus: financial, stakeholders, internal processes, and learning & growth. This scorecard works to align business processes with strategic planning and provide an overview of the main areas needing corrective action. Using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), the hospital has pulled reports on many of the hospital’s current functioning rates such as statistics on beds, employees and their salaries/hours, in-patient and out-patient visits (including ER and clinic visits). These KPIs can also provide descriptive analysis for patient satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and development/learning plans within the facility. Patient safety as well as provider safety both physically and electronically through data (EHR systems) can also be quantified into measurable and reachable goals such as hand-washing rates or surgical safety checklists.

Four Points of Focus

Each point of focus converges with the other and helps improve the other. For example, increased morale (learning) could improve patient satisfaction (stakeholders) which could help growth in financial revenue (financial) which could assist in improving medical capabilities of facility (internal processes) (Voelker, 2001). As we notice on the current mock up of the scorecard, there are missing or lacking initiatives. Our mission and vision statements are vague. Observing each indicator and a plan of action for each KPI, will help facilitate a plan in which all of the hospital can be involved. Without having numbers or data for where we currently stand, it is hard to say what our initiatives should be.

Financial

Firstly, in the financial mission, we can acknowledge that the KPIs are not clear in what the objective or initiative should be for the hospital as a whole. Is the goal to reduce absenteeism from nurses and have more nurses on staff? How does this help the hospital? A clearer objective/KPI/initiative would be: O: improving revenue by employing a greater number of providers; KPI: number of staff and faculty on payroll; I: hire 10% more nurses and providers to payroll, respectively.  By clearly identifying what the hospital needs to expand on, a better strategy can be set in place to improve the financial wellbeing of Mercy.

Stakeholders

In the stakeholder focus, we can observe that there are already 2 initiatives but what are they really? What kind of management staff leadership initiative is being proposed and would that fit more in the learning focus? Some proposed initiatives in lieu of the ones listed could be: Patient engagement survey at end of care/patient experience; Developing charter for (specific – to clarify which, if not all, need charters) community group. There is also no mention of payer/provider relationships and insurance companies are a large stakeholder in the healthcare community.

Internal Processes

Again, very vague initiatives. What exactly is being converged and from which report? The list of KPIs is hardy and provides a long list of things for the hospital to document to have available data. Without the data of where we currently stand, we cannot clearly define initiatives. Some proposed initiatives could be: Implementing fall prevention measures at start of care experience with both bracelets and flag on EHR; Obtaining as much of patient’s medical history as possible upon admission for medication purposes; Posting proper handwashing instructions across hospital to include hospital restrooms and scrub rooms as reminders; Creating surgical safety compliance checklist.

Learning & Growth

While hiring a new HR lead could be a great step in the right direction, there should also be a slew of “safety nets” for employees. Physician/provider burnout is real and without checking in and making sure that everyone feels work is evenly distributed and there is opportunity for growth – morale can get low. Some proposed initiatives could be: Regular employee satisfaction surveys, email reminders for mandatory courses, and also staff/employee “temperature” checks monthly, if not more.

Conclusion

While this BSC is a basic outline of something that could be great. It is up to the organization as a whole to gain feedback from employees and faculty on what could make the organization better. Using this reporting system, the organization can measure and communicate that performance. They can also record progress and track lack there of for new initiatives. This type of reporting system is cumbersome and requires long-term commitment and full support of all involved (BSC Designer - Strategy Execution Software, 2022).

 

References

Kocakülâh MC, Austill AD. Balanced scorecard application in the health care industry: a case study. J Health Care Finance. 2007;34(1):72-99.

Wanga, E. O. (2022, September 12). The Balanced Scorecard in Healthcare: Everything You Need to Know. Experience Care: Long-Term Care EHR & Financial Software Solutions.  https://experience.care/blog/the-balanced-scorecard-in-healthcare/

BSC Designer - Strategy Execution Software. (2022, December 16). Hospital Balanced Scorecard and KPIs. https://bscdesigner.com/hospital-kpis.htm

Voelker, K. E., Rakich, J. S., & French, G. R. (2001, January 1). The Balanced Scorecard in Healthcare Organizations: A Performance Measurement and Strategic Planning Methodology. Hospital Topics; Taylor & Francis.  https://doi.org/10.1080/00185860109597908

Ebony

To: Mercy Hospital Faculty and Staff

From: Ebony Thomas, Health Services Manager

Date: 01 April 2023

Subject: Balanced Scorecard

As the Health Services Manager here at Mercy Community Hospital, I am writing this memo to explain to the faculty and staff the data and information that was needed to develop the balanced scorecard. A balanced scorecard in healthcare is a performance management tool used by healthcare organizations to identify and track strategic objectives, the balanced scorecard was developed by Dr. Robert Kaplan and Dr. David Norton to help align a business’s organizational activities with its strategy.  It also provides a framework for translating an organization’s strategy into measurable objectives and performance indicators in these four areas: financial, stakeholders, internal processes, and learning (Wanga, 2022).

 

Each area outlines a purpose, ensuring that all team members know the overall purpose for the organization. Once the purpose is established specific objectives and performances measures are created, to assess how effectively the organization work aligns with the purpose. Each perspective is then map strategically, for example a chart can be created showing details, metrics, or data used to analyze the performance measures. The performance is then analyzed to show the successes of each area. The results are then shared between internal and external stakeholders, to collaborate changes and initiatives. If you closely observe the Balanced Scorecard for Mercy Community Hospital, you notice that the financial area does not have an initiative. There may not be an initiative due linking initiatives to multiple objectives, can dilute the natural cause-and-effect relationships inherent to the Balanced Scorecard (Solow, n.d.). However, it is important to keep the purpose in mind when developing changes to ensure that new initiatives align with the organization’s vision.

This scorecard will be used for Mercy strategic planning process by aligning the projects with the organization's goals, measuring the performance effectively to ensure that we provide successful metrics to the internal and external stakeholders.

If anyone has questions, concerns, and/or suggestions please contact me at 555-121-1234.

 

References:

Solow, D. (n.d.).  A Definitive Balanced Scorecard Guide to Strategic Initiatives. https://www.esmgrp.com/blog/the-definitive-balanced-scorecard-guide-to-create-strategic-initiatives#:~:text=A%20common%20mistake%20is%20to%20link%20Initiatives%20to,as%20the%20one%20Initiative%20to%20rule%20them%20all.

 Wanga, E. O. (2022, September 12).  The Balanced Scorecard in Healthcare: Everything You Need to Know. Experience Care: Long-Term Care EHR & Financial Software Solutions.  https://experience.care/blog/the-balanced-scorecard-in-healthcare/#:~:text=It%20provides%20a%20framework%20for%20translating%20an%20organization%E2%80%99s,patients%203%20Internal%20processes%204%20Learning%20and%20growth

Reply to Thread

Justiana

Hello Busayo, I completely agree that balancing personal privacy and national security is crucial. The issue of government surveillance is a complex and it needs careful consideration. While I understand the need for national security, citizens' privacy rights must also be respected. Very interesting point of view, good job on your weekly post. If you were a lawmaker, how would you propose to balance the need for national security and the protection of citizens' privacy in terms of government surveillance?