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Unlock success with strategy, research

Radiology Administrator's Compliance and Reimbursement Insider, May 1, 2006

All patients within a 10-mile radius of your radiology facility come to you without question for their imaging needs. You’ve reached the top of your income-earning ability. You’ve maxed out your market.

Now what?

It’s time to consider creating a strategic plan, said Elsa Ozuna-Richards MSA, CMPE, of REA Healthcare Strategies in Reno, NV, who spoke during an American Healthcare Radio logy Administrators (AHRA) audioconference in January.

However, you don’t have to be sitting on top of the radiology world to need a strategic plan, Ozuna-Richards said. Whether your facility operates at the pinnacle of financial prosperity or—like many facilities these days—struggles to pinch pennies, a strategic plan helps your business find its focus and earn greater profits.

Where to start

Before you formulate a strategic plan, make sure that you know your practice inside and out. Know it not just from your own perspective, but through the eyes of
your employees, shareholders, business partners, and customers.

A strategic plan helps everyone involved steer the organization through rocky financial waters or stormy, competitor-tossed seas to the distant shores of future success.

Ensure top-level commitment to the strategic plan proc ess before you begin, Ozuna-Richards said. Nothing moves forward unless the power brokers are involved.

Allocate adequate time and money to the process and to implementing key components of the completed plan.

Don’t propose any other major moves for at least six months.

A strategic plan may bring turmoil and change of its own.

When brought together with preexisting challenges, your proposals may get lost in the shuffle—or worse, tossed aside amid growing angst and worry associated with change, said Ozuna-Richards.

Look to staff for strategic solutions

Alleviate tension by helping staff understand the importance of future planning and encourage their involvement. Their participation in the process increases the likelihood of their investment in its outcomes.

Decide which staff to include as key players on your development team. Ozuna-Richards recommended involving a wide spectrum of representatives from receptionists to physicians, community leaders to volunteers, and topic experts to patients.

Place participants within the appropriate stages of strategic development and create a timeline for their involvement.

Facility leadership should participate in the initial mission- and vision-setting segments of the plan. They may wish to step out of the research and assessment phases and return during the priority-setting portion of the strategic planning process.

“Before implementation is really [when] you want your staff to be involved,” she said.

Define your mission, set your vision

A mission statement summarizes your business values and organization. Vision statements set your company’s sights on the future, said Ozuna-Richards.

Create mission and vision statements and communicate them to your customers and staff, she said.

“Hang your mission statement on the wall so you never lose track of it,” said Ozuna-Richards.

One facility that she assisted set its sights on becoming the premiere neurosurgery center in its area.

Stating its mission, the group then focused on all areas of its business to reflect that goal. It reviewed its hiring policy, front-end staff training, and new technologies to ensure that those areas fell in line with the facility’s mission.

The neurosurgery unit’s vision for the future therefore reflected its overall objective by stating the business’ intended goals: “We will be the region’s premier practice for all spine and brain procedures.”

More about research

Research is critical to strategic development because it is the primary phase of strategic development, Ozuna-Richards said.

How you collect data is as important as the information you gather, she said.

Complete primary research through telephone or mail surveys or one-on-one interviews with individuals. Be consistent. Develop a script to ensure that surveyors ask similar questions. Allow for anecdotal information at this stage, but aim to gather statistical data to compile for use later on.

Secondary research completed via database, the In ternet, or industry associations also helps create a comprehensive overview of how your business fits into the larger industry.

Select a strategy

Put all of these collected data to good use. Define your facility’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to market growth, said Ozuna-Richards.

Develop strategies to capitalize on your strengths. Look for growth opportunities to handle perceived flaws and threats to your financial viability. “Match opportunities with weaknesses,” she said.

For example, one weakness may be location. Perhaps your business lies outside of the comfortable commuting zone for patients in a developing community. Opening a second facility there or creating a shuttle service from that area may prove to be a previously unexplored opportunity.

Set priorities

You’ve gathered all of these great ideas about how to expand your influence and increase your business’ bottom line. Unfortunately, neither the money nor the time exists to implement them all.

Focus and get your priorities in order, Ozuna-Richards said.

Pool the various strategies and take a diplomatic approach to selecting objectives, she suggested. This way, everyone owns a piece of the strategic plan process and participates in the company’s success.

Include both short- and long-term objectives in your priorities. Couple goals with a timeline and describe how and when things must get done.

Think of short-term goals as steps leading to accomplishing long-term objectives.

For example, if you set one of your long-term goals on networking with area physicians, then your short-term targets should include items to get you there. Actions such as joining regional chambers of commerce, hosting an educational series, and launching an advertising campaign all lead to increased networking, said Ozuna-Richards.

Focus on achievable goals based on your mission, and integrate the plan so each element supports the next priority. This creates momentum for the proposal to propel itself—and your business—forward.

Guarantee that the strategic plan doesn’t become a static document by holding monthly strategy meetings. Revisit the plan three months from the time it’s solidified, and refine your strategic plan annually.

The final strategic step

The best plans establish measurable returns to short- and long-term goals.

Monitor and evaluate your progress as you accomplish the goals shaped by your strategic plan.

For example, ask referring physicians how they heard about you. Document the number of patients you gained due to your various short-term goals (e.g., joining area chambers of commerce). Also set a rate of growth that you expect from each short- and long-term goal at the outset.

Understand the amount that you wish to grow annually and the percentage of growth that you need to maintain your current profit margin, staff, etc.

Reaping the strategic benefits

Expect enormous payback from your strategic plan, said Ozuna-Richards.

You’ll find that your business and employees