Strategic Planning Revised for Brooke Army Medical Center - Research Paper Example

Implementation Plan Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 0Introduction 3 2.0Strategic Control Mechanisms and Operational Recommendations 3 3.0Evaluation of the Effect of Strategy Formulation 5 4.0Goals 6 5.0Objectives 6 6.0Action Steps to Guide the Reconfiguring and Alignment of the Organization 7 7.0Critical Success Indicators for Measurement of the Performance in Implementing the Strategy 8 8.0Conclusion 9 Works Cited 9 1.0 Introduction This implementation plan follows the strategic planning which was revised for Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC). It is of greater necessity to come up with a plan on how the strategies on paper will be carried out in real sense. This is due to the fact that most of the strategic plans take place in boardrooms and away from the field which might not be congruent with realities on the ground. Good plans are those that have been systematically done with relation to what has been observed on the ground. This is why it is important in the first place to have all the stakeholders mentioned in the strategic plan’s revision to be part of the process of formulating these revised strategic plans. The basic perception of this move is geared towards ensuring that all the stakeholders first and foremost own the process by feeling part of what is being undertaken since at the end of it all, they stand affected by the decisions and actions put in practice. Failure or success of such strategic plans could be determined by that simple fact of not including the stakeholders or including them in the process respectively (BAMC-RSP 2-9). After a thorough evaluation of the revised strategic plans, BAMC has come up with an implementation plan that will see this paper of strategies put to practice and progressed into the future of the health facility (BAMC). This is what the paper seeks to address by systematically looking at the strategies proposed and coming up with tit bits of implementing them. 2.0 Strategic Control Mechanisms and Operational Recommendations Strategic control at BAMC will entail an additional tool which could be used in the provision of relevant information to gauge whether or not the plan is successful. This could also give feedback on the need to proceed with the overall plan or if it should be changed. This is benchmarked against the events that do unfold and the results that are related to the incremental steps and those actions that have been put into the implementation process. The control mechanism at BAMC will entail: Critical monitoring and accurate evaluation of the strategic thrusts which involves the revised strategic plan that is necessary to the success of BAMC. These benchmarks of thrust could be first agreed from the onset by identifying the critical factors. The other recommendation that I find useful in this control mechanism is the use of stop/go assessments. These assessments will be linked to the various thresholds that had been singled out and this will touch on the portfolios illustrated in the strategic plan namely costs, success, market domain, product domain, knowledge base, time, and research and development, among others. The other aspect of control mechanism will touch on the milestone reviews. These are the particular significant points which have been singled out in the program development. They will majorly involve the points at which huge resources of BAMC will be committed to push the strategic plan. A thorough review of these revised strategic plans will hence be of necessity as the implementation is carried out. I would recommend that the milestone points at BAMC touches on the following areas identified in the strategic plan: That JCAHO-Accreditation facility expanding to the tune of 653 beds from the current 450 beds; Resources have been pumped here to ensure that more beds are purchased to increase the capacity as well as use any idle space that has not been utilized to build more rooms for the beds; check on the recurrent costs and those that emerge so that the operational costs are cut by the desired margin; the number of casualties reported at BAMC going down by the best margin that could be achieved; bureaucracy experienced in the purchasing process is eliminated; acquisition costs being cut by a huge margin through the development of the medicines in-house; weigh the market share of BAMC to ensure that it has been well established in the market domain; and that all the idle resources identified have been cut to the minimum level possible. 3.0 Evaluation of the Effect of Strategy Formulation The formulation of the revised strategic plan has had a major effect on BAMC. From the implementation process, BAMC has experienced an increment in the number of patients who have been insured by various firms. This means that the rebranding of the organization to attract the public is working. There is also an increase in the public goodwill seen towards the medical services provided by the army officers. The strategic formulation has made it necessary to come up with improved and reliable state-of-the-art medical facilities at BAMC. From the strategic plan, these had the need of increasing and improving on the support given to the premium patients and those in the intensive care units (ICU). The strategic plan has also seen the management increase the contact level between patients and healthcare providers. This is eluded by the fact that the nurses and doctors attending to patients have been increased by 40% to cater for the deficit as had been analyzed in the TOWS. The organization has also managed to secure subsidies and tax waivers from the government. This has been necessitated by the fact that defense forces are entitled to tax free purchases, a concept that was not explored before the plan was revised. Fears of terrorist attacks have subsidized due to the deployment of more security forces and acquisition of sensitive security details to guard against fears of terrorist strikes. The organization has also embarked on direct sourcing of fuels to reduce the costs incurred due to use of middle men. Heavy reliance on the government to provide support to this health facility has also been eliminated by employment of self-reliant measures by increasing the profit margin hence the funds are ploughed back by channeling them into programs identified in the strategic plan. The medical team has been retrained on the benefits of teamwork and professional conduct. This works to ensure that ethics and coherence is upheld throughout their medical practice. 4.0 Goals The goals of BAMC have been identified as including the following: Increasing the level of capacity of BAMC to handle many patients due to the increment in health risk factors within the country; Becoming the best medical provider within the state and beyond as an example to other military controlled and run hospitals; and Increasing the level of productivity to the optimal through various practices such as cost cutting measures, proper time management, proper patient handling, and other practices that would ensure efficiency and effectiveness 5.0 Objectives The main objectives of BAMC are outlined below: To give the best treatment to its patients who are seen as clients hence given priority as far as other issues such as those relating to the organization are concerned; To be the leader in medical provisions both within the military arena and the general public; and To enhance the level of productivity to international standards so as to enable it compete effectively with other players by gaining competitive advantage in the healthcare industry as seen by its strategic evaluation of the market domain and product domains that are being offered to the military and the public; To do away with the dependence on government funding so that the BAMC hospital could be able to stand by itself and avoid the bureaucracies experienced while seeking funding from the government which in most cases makes it hard for BAMC to operate under plan. These objectives are in line with the revised strategies that had been put in plan for the revitalization of BAMC (BAMC-RSP 2-9). 6.0 Action Steps to Guide the Reconfiguring and Alignment of the Organization This area touches on the organization’s structure, systems, shared values, management style, staff, and skills that are necessary for the implementation of the strategy. The steps to be considered in the implementation plan include (Newman, 1-24): i. Restructuring the BAMC management to fit into the new strategic plan where top to bottom approach to restructuring could be employed. ii. The next step would be considering the whole organization as a system that inputs and outputs various things to and from the environment and finding a coherent way of addressing them. iii. Building up some shared values that are of critical essence to the success of the revised strategic plan. These shared values could be expressed in form of cultural practices, professional conduct and teamwork, among others. iv. Change of management style would also be very important so that it fits within the revised strategic plan. v. Increment of staff, training and subsequent deployment is of critical importance in the implementation process. Training will also ensure that relevant skills are imparted to the staff team for better performance levels. 7.0 Critical Success Indicators for Measurement of the Performance in Implementing the Strategy Success of the revised strategic plan and its subsequent implementation plan depends on various critical success factors for BAMC. These include: The adoption of the strategies by and commitment of the top level management in enhancing their implementation is of importance. Support should be given from the top. Measurement of the support and goodwill given by the top level management will hence prove very critical. The other success factor is the ownership of all the stakeholders involved in the process. This is because without it, the whole process remains a fuss and would not see the light of the day. Another success factor would be seen in terms of achievement of various milestones that had been set out in the implementation plan. Also, the availability of all the resources identified as critical to the process is of importance. Various strategic management tools that could be employed in measurement of these success factors include the balanced score card where the condition of the healthcare is assessed as is opposed to measuring accounts; economic value obtained from the revised strategic plan is measured in terms of its cost-effectiveness; activity-based costing could also be employed in these measures so that the targeted thresholds of costs are seen to be met; quality management levels measurement by considering quality issues that are inherent within the medical practice and administration; and finally the customer value analysis is done to ensure that the running of this BAMC is not a loner but takes into full consideration of the clients’ needs (Ewing 33-78). Finally, harnessing the knowledge to come up with a knowledge-based economic level is of critical importance. This is because the experience gained from this process could be applied in future and in other facilities around the globe. More research and training should thus be provided and strategic placement of the BAMC in terms of knowledge enhanced (OECD, 2-23) 8.0 Conclusion Implementation of the revised strategic plan is not such an easy task, especially if the identified success areas are not put into place. The most important factor within any formulated plan is the human aspect. If the people fail the adoption of the plan, then BAMC should be rest assured that it will not be able to implement the revised strategic plan. Human factors spell the availability of commitment or lack of it and this is very critical to the implementation process since other resources and policies cannot implement by themselves. Other factors also follow such as assets. Works Cited BAMC-RSP (2011) Revised Strategic Plan; pp.2-9 BAMC, "U.S. Army Medical Command: Brooke Army Medical Center." n.d. 21 8 2011 . Ewing, P., Tarantino, W., and Parnell G., Use of Decision Analysis in the Army Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) 2005 Military Value Analysis, Decision Analysis Journal, Vol 3, No1, March 2006, pp. 33-78 Newman, A. M., G. G. Brown, H. Holtz, and R. F.Dell, How U.S. Air Force Space Command Optimizes Long-Term Investment in Space Systems, Interfaces, Vol. 3, No. 4: (2003), 1-24 OECD, the Knowledge-Based Economy: Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development. GENERAL DISTRIBUTION OCDE/GD (96)102: (1996), 2-23 Read More