Growth Strategy of Cleveland Clinic - Case Study Example

Cleveland Clinic Which growth initiatives should the Clinic expand and why? What other recommendations would you make to Dr. Cosgrove? The Cleveland Clinic has gained worldwide popularity thereby it receives patients from various parts of the globe. Despite, this there are still arguments concerning whether the clinic should form partnerships or not. In addition, the clinic also has extensive facilities in eight states, and northeast Ohio (Exhibit A). Basing on these facts, Cleveland Clinic should ensure expansion of the growth initiative, building strategic partnerships. Cleveland Clinic should form partnerships since this will ensure sharing of ideas. For instance, if the clinic forms a partnership with its major competitors like the University Hospitals Health systems (Porter and Teisberg, 12), it can gain several ideas including practices and services offered. Furthermore, there are instances when the patients prefer the main campus, an indication that the services provided at the community and county hospitals are minimal (Porter and Teisberg, 5). Therefore, Cleveland Clinic should also consider addition of new services in community branches. Generally, as a recommendation, Dr. Cosgrove should consider adopting these strategies because they will help in ensuring that the clinic offers more effective services to its patients, and also ensure satisfactory services in community and county hospitals. 2. What is the Cleveland Clinic’s overall strategy for improving value for patients? Identify the critical components and their rationale. Cleveland Clinic’s focuses much on retaining and growing the existing clients (Exhibit B). In other words, the clinic aims at providing the best services to the patients so that it can ensure patients’ satisfaction, thereby receiving more new patients or retaining continuing patients. Generally, according to the clinic’s rationale, when it focuses much on the experience that the patient has, then it would be easier to recognize whether the patients get full satisfaction from the services provided. The clinic therefore, focuses on the “patient first” (Porter and Teisberg, 9) aspect in order to ensure the satisfaction of the patients. As a result, the clinic has applied some strategies, for instance; For years the clinic established an open record policy, but currently the clinic has created a system whereby the records are included online as personal health records. In addition, the clinic, since 2012, has ensured an elevated access to electronic patient information, starting with the lab results. As a result of these changes, patients have an online access to the physicians’ notes for review after a visit. Since the clinic made decision to make it easier for their patients to see the physicians, it came up with a system whereby the patients could have access to the patient’s portal (MyChart). At MyChart, patients are able to view the entire schedule of physicians, thereby make their appointments easily. 3. Where has the Clinic made the most progress? Certainly, the clinic has made much progress in ensuring that patients receive satisfactory services. The clinic believes that the results of a treatment are the perfect measure for its success; however, it also puts much attention on the experience that a patient has had (Exhibit C). Certainly, through ensuring the patient’s satisfaction, the clinic has ensured its success. The appointment of a Chief Experience Officer (Dr. James Merlino) in 2009 depicts this progress. To ensure a better experience to the patients, Dr. Merlino ensured that ways through which improvements of patient’s experience could be achieved were formulated. As a result, Dr. Merlino formulated three strategies that would help ensure better patients’ experience (Porter and Teisberg, 10). These included; Ensuring the existence of caring caregivers. To ensure effective caregivers, the clinic changed the designation of all employees in the clinic to “caregivers”, and in addition came up with a system where both the caregiver and the patient accessed the same information. MyChart made this able; therefore patients could view all records, cancel appointments or make appointments and request renewal of prescriptions among others. Moreover, the clinic formed My-Consult, a system that provided patients’ satisfaction through providing services to life threatening and altering diagnoses. Ensuring effective process during patients’ care delivery Engaging patients in their treatment process. This clinic ensures this through creating the patients’ portal (My-Chart) where patients can follow up the physician’s schedule, thereby make appointments, review physicians notes among others. 4. What are the areas for improvement? Cleveland Clinic has put much focus on the county and community level clinics (Exhibit D). Therefore, the major areas for improvements for Cleveland Clinic include ensuring the effectiveness of the county and community level clinics. Putting much focus on these levels will limit the number of patients who go seek services at the main campus instead of visiting the closer branches of the clinic situated at county or community levels. 5. Identify and evaluate the Clinic’s various approaches to growing its practice. With much focus on “patients first” the clinic simply tries to achieve full satisfaction of the patients needs through offering effective services. Additionally, the clinic also provided training to some physicians who are now abroad and refer new patients to them (Porter and Teisberg, 1). Moreover, the clinic also has various unit branches at the community level (Exhibit E). Generally, to ensure growth in its practice, Cleveland Clinic has focused much on the approach of ensuring growth and maintenance of the existing clients. The clinic has, therefore used this approach to ensure a continuation in its growth, and by doing so, the clinic retains its clients even the ones from abroad. This approach ensures the success of the clinic, since patients have gained trust in the services they offer. In addition, through the approach of focusing on acquisition of new clients, the clinic focuses on provision of satisfactory services to patients; therefore it acquires more new patients. Moreover, through focus on the approach of expansion into new markets, the clinic has ensured its wings are expanded to other regions. To expand into new markets simply means divergence of services offered to gain more clients. Therefore, through focusing on expansion, the clinic must strive to improve its services to patients hence a growth in its practice. Work cited Porter Michael and Teisberg Elizabeth. “Cleveland Clinic: Growth Strategy 2012.” Harvard Business School. Web. 27th Apr. 2014. Read More