An Increase in Healthcare Projects Development - Essay Example

?PLAN DEVELOPMENT FOR A MAJOR HEALTH CARE FACILITY of Introduction In the recent years, empirical records have shown that a good percentage of real estate development and projects have been cancelled midstream due to poor planning while almost half of the remaining percent run to almost 100% over the original budget estimates. These disturbing facts have brought the need to give more attention to the real estate development projects so as to prevent unnecessary wastes and losses during project implementation. In the long run, business plan development has received a lot of attention both from scholars as well as developers in the resent years. The main aim of business plan is to oversee the implementation of a project based on good decision making, proper planning procedures and methods that eventually will lead to full completion of a project to all parties’ satisfaction. This paper is aimed at establishing a business plan for a major health care facility to its full functionality. The actual project here is a business plan of a major health care facility. For a successful completion of the project, there are many considerations, obstacles as well as opportunities that all have to be looked at before and during the project implementation. Unlike other projects, health care facility requires special attention due to the nature of its work hence it needs more expertise in its project planning. The plan should put in consideration many factors among them; that healthcare facilities depends on continues operations with no tolerance to disruptions, in terms of its construction it will require unique waste streams since chemicals might be involved within its wastes, there is need for provision of intense energy and water use within its surroundings due to the nature of the activities within the healthcare, there should be provision for infection control which should be unique on its own and lastly but not least, indoor air circulation is of importance and hence should be considered in the business plan for healthcare project. These special specifications differentiate a healthcare plan to that of a normal business plan. Any project that is to be consisted within a healthcare facility should fully be planed for and evaluated before its implementation. Existing research has shown that in a period of about last five years, there indeed has been an increase in healthcare projects development to almost 50% as compared to the previous years. This rapid increase has mainly been attributed to the need for new and developing technological innovations in the healthcare sector, aging populations as well as facilities, the need for new standards of care and a considerate reimbursement and financing environment. All these have contributed to the witnessed introductions of various projects to the health sector. This intern has brought the need to come up with business plans so as to attain the healthcare objectives with less challenges. The market analysis has shown that indeed there is more need for effective service integration and healthcare management especially for new enrollees within the healthcare sector. This is attributed to the fact that majority of new enrollees are soon to be non-disabled adults and this is a critical fact to the health sector since it’s worth noting that the disabled and dually eligible populations are much more costly and hence stand to benefit more from effective healthcare system. Market analysis has shown that there has been a high rise in the resent years of various special cases in the health sector that indeed have called for business plans to help in projects integrations in the health sector. Such like programs include; perinatal conditions that have played a big role in maternal and child health care, Chronic conditions, smoking complications and obesity among others. These complex health matters have brought about the need for establishment of more healthcare facilities and this has called for the need for project planning since healthcare facilities need a better and unique plan before its implementation. A good business plan is mainly aimed to achieve effectiveness and efficiency within its sector. Empirical records have shown that poor business plan is mainly attributed by bad judgment, lack of communication among the parties involved, poor implementation strategies, inadequate cost in implementation process and mostly poor decision making among the top management. With all these in mind, business plan is put in place to coordinate the innovation of a project to its implementation stage with minimal errors if any at all. The main goal of business plan in the health sector is to implement or integrate new health policies within the health structure with the minimum interference of the existing policies, structures as well as the parties involved in the health sector. In the end, the business plan in the health sector is aimed at giving effective outcome to all the stakeholders within the health sector that include; the patients, the staffs and the organization management. It is of importance that all the parties involved in healthcare projects to note that there is always a big variation of the cost of the project depending on its special specifications as well as its geographical location. It is also important to note that construction costs have risen in the resent years mostly in raw materials. Currently the rising cost is approximated at 1% per month and that is why it is important for project managers to work within a specified timeline so as to prevent the possibilities of exceeding the budget in terms of cost that increase due to delays of the project implementation. The stakeholders and the project management team should have a good understanding of the total cost of every part of the project to avoid future misunderstandings that normally arises in the project implementation process. A business plan for a healthcare facility should entail a structure that is inclusive of all the participants within the sector so as to attain the aspired objective of the healthcare project. In this case, the business plan should have a clear structure and roles played by the clients who in this case are the patients, the staffs who might be doctors, nurses and co-workers within the institution, the health organization itself and its management team and finally the environment as a whole should also be put in consideration when coming up with a business plan of healthcare projects. In the case that it is a healthcare construction project, then the structure should include the contractors, workers, healthcare staffs, patient’s considerations and the community in which the healthcare is to be situated. In any business plan, the issue of personnel and staffing plays a major role in the project innovation as well as implementation. In a sector such as healthcare sector that is more sensitive, the issue of staffing and personnel should be taken with more care. This is so since most of the staffs within this sector are specialists in different sectors of the healthcare. The plans should consider these professionals who include doctors, medical staffs, allied health staffs, nursing staffs, administrative staffs and operational staffs. The plan should also not forget the support staff that also plays an important role any project implementation within the healthcare sector. The business plan should be considerate of the entire workforce within the healthcare project as well as outline the role to be played by each party within the healthcare facility to avoid misunderstandings as well as conflicts among the healthcare staffs during the business plan implementation. Business plans do vary from one project to the other, this might vary from weeks to several years depending with that particular projects and what it entails. Within the healthcare sector, business plans might include construction of a new healthcare facility, renovation, and innovation of new technological equipment, implementation of new or improvised healthcare management among others. All in all, it is of importance for any business plan more so that of healthcare sector to have a specific timeline and schedule which is aimed at monitoring and assessing the progress of the project through the business plan time line. The time duration on a project both have their advantages as well as disadvantages on a business plan although there is no specific set time frame, each projects time frame differs from the other depending with the nature of the project. Planning need keen evaluation and monitoring strategies since it is easier and less costly to make changes in the initial stages than in the advanced stages of the project. This is unavoidable since planning is all about situational changes to perfect the project hence the original plans have to be changed here and there to accommodate new ideas as well as developing strategies. To accommodate these changes, all master plans of a project are always kept open to allow inevitable changes that might arise within the healthcare facility. In each day of implementation of a project such healthcare facility, there arises many opportunities, obstacles, and considerations that need to be evaluated and given attention during the planning process of a project. The evaluation and monitoring process enables the project manager to track the progress of the project more closely to its goal attainment. Conclusion For a good project development, it is of importance to have a blue print plan that reflects the strategic and operational goals of an organization. The plan helps to keep the project on line and at the same time allows for inevitable changes that might help the project achieve its goals. For a project like healthcare facility, it is a project that requires qualified healthcare planning consultants since it is unique and hence has unique requirement. References Aliber, J. (2007, March). Real Numbers. Health Facilities Management Magazine [Electronic Copy] Retrieved 17 March 2007 by www.hfmmagazine.com Carrick, A. (2006). RSMeans Costing Information – Hospitals, Nursing Home and Apartment Building – November 2006. Retrieved 1 March 2007 by www.buildingteamforecast.com/article/CA6396423.html?industryid=43 Kemper, J. (2004). Launching a Healthcare Capital Project. Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press Marberry, S (2006). Improving healthcare with better building design. Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press GGHC: Green Guide for Health Care. Retrieved 21 May 2006 by www.gghc.org/about.cfm IFMA (2001). Operations and maintenance benchmarks, Research Report#21. Kemper, J. (2004). Launching a Healthcare Capital Project. Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press Read More