Environmental Analysis: Gerald Champion Week 3

Environmental Analysis

MBA580

University of Phoenix

Situation

In the last strategic plan completed in 2007, the board of directors identified six broad strategic goals that were to drive the organization’s progress. The strategies are:

• Service Availability and Expansion

• Customer Satisfaction

• Workforce Development and Retention

• Physician Resources and Relationships

• Future of Information Technology

• Strategic and Financial Integration

All strategic issues will focus on these factors, which will impact accomplishment of their mission, vision and values. This strategic plan update will focus on two of these strategies: workforce development and retention and strategic and financial integration.

Strategic Imperatives

The environmental assessment for Gerald Champion would indicate that the organization has positioned itself in the market to be the leader of health related services. The flexibility of the organization to venture abroad with joint ventures and developing relationships with its military friends would indicate the organization understands the variables that exist in its environment. The organization has been able to build a solid financial foundation that provides the funding for infrastructure changes and operational ventures.

However, the threat of additional competition must not be taken lightly as this would further carve out profitable services and create real financial operation challenges. While Gerald Champion has been able to maintain staff, their high turnover rate (27%) is a problem and will only further complicate their problems. Reduction of the turnover rate is a key challenge for the organization in the next few years.

Another area of opportunity for the organization will be in lobbying for changes in the reimbursement levels for the organization. The management team is challenged to evaluate its services and to make critical decisions about service profitability and community need. The move to tie reimbursement to quality indicators is an area of opportunity for Gerald Champion to improve the quality of services, increase reimbursement and improve staff satisfaction, all of which are tied together.

The major weakness for the organization has been turnover in key management personnel and the lack of leadership in the nursing departments. Morale is at an all time low and must quickly change as this is feeding the turnover rate. Another area of weakness is physician loyalty. With the change in philosophy of physicians to be entrepreneurs, the typical “good ole doc” syndrome does not exist and thus creates the forum for hostile relationships.

Industry Trends

The health care industry is in a continual state of transformation resulting in constant and fundamental shifts in the delivery, financing, structure and organization of health care services. The changes brought on by this transformation have shifted the focus of health care from treatment of illness to enhancement of health; from the delivery of episodes of care to the management of a care continuum; from physicians as pure health care providers to entrepreneurs interested in joint ventures or in establishing competitive alternatives for profitable service lines; and from single-episode quality review to continuous system improvement with measurable and publicly communicated outcomes.

Strategic plans of today must respond to these changes, new strategies that focus on scope of services, new partnerships among providers, payers and communities, growth of managed care, and quality enhancements are being developed across the country. Gerald Champion Memorial Hospital must enhance its ability to respond to these changes of physician perspectives, technology change, and workforce shortages and payments bases on the quality of clinical outcomes.

Current Situation

The primary service area (PSA) for Gerald Champion includes Alamogordo, Holloman Air Force Base, La Luz, and Tularosa communities. This PSA represents 72% of the patients live in these zip code areas Table 1). The population of Otero County is growing especially in the over 60 population. The area attracts retired military, aging adults looking for a great climate with sunshine 320 days out of the year and those adults looking for small town living with close proximity of large city and mountain living (Table 2).

The population projections are conservative in nature and could change with a change in focus at Holloman Air Force Base. Current projections are for no major changes in population with a possible reduction in numbers more prominent. However, the community is actively pursuing another wing or unit to be placed at the Air Force Base. All changes at the Air Force Base directly impact the operations of Gerald Champion Memorial Hospital. Gerald Champion is a shared facility with the military. This is a unique relationship that allows Department of Defense (DoD) physicians to practice in a civilian facility and treat DoD patients.

Table 1. Patient Origin by Service - 2008

Community Inpatient Outpatient

Alamogordo 63% 66%

HAFB 9% 8%

LaLuz 4% 4%

Tularosa 7% 8%

Cloudcroft 2% 1%

High Rolls 1% 1%

Mayhill 1% 1%

Mescalero 4% 1%

Ruidoso 1% 1%

All Other 8% 9%

Total 100% 100%

Source: GCRMC Records

Table 2. Population Projections вЂ" 2008 to 2011

Population Service Area Population projection -2008 Population projection - 2009 Population projection - 2010 Population projection вЂ" 2011

Primary 51,726 52,760 54,501 56,681

Secondary 7,050 7,473 7,824 8,121

Tertiary 24,914 26,409 27,465 29,113

Total 83,690 86,642 89,790 93,915