• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

From the staff development bookshelf: Determining financial goals and objectives

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, October 7, 2011

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education!

It is common for highly driven organizations to develop goals and objectives annually. In healthcare, just as in many businesses today, rules, regulations, customers, workforce, and technology are changing at such a rapid pace that it is impossible to effectively operationalize goals for further than a one- to five-year period. At the senior level of leadership, goals are developed in conjunction with the board of trustees and senior leaders of the organization. A complete assessment of the community, the patients, physicians, employees, and services is reviewed.

In addition to internal assessment, much attention should be paid to external factors affecting the organization. This is important in every market but particularly important in markets with more than one facility that offers similar services. If the competition across town is the known market leader in one service line, does it make sense to compete for the patient population? In some cases the answer to this question will be yes, and in some cases the answer will be no. Some of the factors affecting this decision include:
* Number of patients in the market
* Quality of the competition's service
* Expense to provide the service
* Reimbursement for the service
* Projected life of the technology or equipment

Let's assume that your competitor is providing a very highly specialized cancer radiation treatment program. The equipment for this service line costs millions and the patient population, because of the new technology and specific treatment regimen, is limited. The procedure, however, is currently very well reimbursed by the majority of payer types for the patients who access this type of care. In this case a complete business analysis or Performa would need to be completed to assess if there are enough patients in the area to outweigh the expense of the equipment.

To assist in this global planning, it is common for an organization to hire a professional consultant. This outside consultant facilitates the group through various activities leading up to the development of what the organization should focus their efforts on for the next one to five years. The value of independent consultants is that they often come with a broader view of future trends in healthcare and ideas from other organizations, but an outside consultant is not always necessary. Meaningful goals can also be developed independently of external assistance. The decision to engage external services is a leadership decision based on available resources and the challenges faced in the organization.

As a front line manager, it's important that you recognize the value of this planning by senior leadership, even if you are not directly involved in it. Improved understanding of how these plans and goals are developed will give you the tools to help your team develop goals that align with the organization. Next week, we'll examine how to conduct a SWOT analysis.

Source: Book excerpt adapted from The Nurse Leader's Guide to Business Skills: Strategies for Optimizing Financial Performance by Pamela Hunt, BS, MSN, RN, and Deborah Laughon, RN, BSN, MS, DBA, CCRN.

Readers of Staff Development Weekly receive a 10% discount on this book! Just enter source code EB102930A at checkout. Click here to visit www.hcmarketplace.com.

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education!

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive