Strategic and operational plan

Planning it is a technical function that enables HSO to deal with present and anticipate the future. It involve deciding what to do, when, where, and how to do it, and for what purpose. It was also described as a primary function because the other functions are predicted upon the most important outcomes of planning such as: objectives, strategies, and operational programs.

The primary role of a manger is guaranteeing the HSO survival through strategic planning and marketing.

Attributes of planning Futuristic It involve decision making; Dynamic and continuous ; Continuous environmental surveillance and adaptive change.

Planning process Assessing present information about the organization and its environment; Making assumptions about the future; Evaluating present objectives and/ or developing new once; Formulating strategies and operational program; if implementation done properly; the objectives will be accomplished.

Importance of planning Reduce uncertainty, ambiguity, and risk Forces managers to focus on outputs. Enable managers to develop priorities and make better decisions about conversion design and allocation and use of resources, through integration of structure, task- technology, and people. The foundation for controlling. To investigate whether expected results are achieved or not.

Approach to planning The planning approaches basically describe how planning is done, under what conditions, and the perspective of those who plan.

1.Developmental- incremental: Developmental plan; characterized by autonomy in developing strategies and without restriction, bold, new, innovative, and non traditional planning outcomes. Incremental one has the opposite characteristics.

2. Proactive-reactive: Proactive planning is overt, systematic, formalized , and anticipatory. Involves anticipating the future and influencing the environment. While the reactive one is default planning (on the rebound) in response to events.

There are other approach such as individuals-committee, systematic-adhoc, and quantitative-qualitative may be used. These approaches basically describe how planning is done, under what conditions, and the perspective of those who plan.

Types of plan: Strategic planning: it is a broad, all encompassing in scope, and concerned with environmental assessment. It addresses the elements of organization objective and strategy formulation and it done in the upper level of management.

Strategic planning process: i. Environmental assessment( situation audit) by using a "SWOT" form.

External assessment: Looks for (opportunities and threats) Opportunities: nurse recruitment, physician recruitment, referral pattern, new programs, new markets, diversification, population growth, improved technology, and new facilities. Threats: Shortage of nurses, decrease in patient satisfaction, decrease in demand services, competition, regulations, unionization, and loss of accreditation.

Internal assessment: Looks for( strengths and weaknesses) Strengths: Management development, qualifications of staff, medical staff expertise, facilities, location, quality of services. Weaknesses: Scarcity of staff, financial situation, cash flow position, marketing efforts, and market share.

Planning tools Vision Values Mission Philosophy Goals Objectives Policies Procedures

Vision: It is a mental image or the power of imagination to see something that is not actually visible. the preferred future).

Values: It is the worth, usefulness, or importance of some thing Values: It is the worth, usefulness, or importance of some thing . the guiding value for general hospital are as follows: Quality Compassion Fairness Integrity Innovation Fiscal responsibility.

Mission: for a purpose which the organizations exist Mission: for a purpose which the organizations exist. Most nursing services are exist to provide high-quality nursing care to their clients. Some are encouraging education and research.

The philosophy: the philosophy articulate a vision and provides a statement of beliefs and values that direct ones practice. It should be written, and review periodically.

Goals and objectives: State actions for achieving the mission and philosophy. The more quantitative objectives the more likely its achievement is to receive attention and the less likely it is to be distorted. Objectives are selective rather than global like goals, are multiple, and cover a wide range of activities.

Because the organization and its planning in dynamic state, so the goals and objectives should be in dynamic and periodically should be reviewed. It is recommended that objectives be achievable, specific, measurable, and outcome oriented, starting with "to" followed by a verb. Each objective should be about a single result with a target date.

Goal: Develop and implement staff development programs to meet the need for increased knowledge. Objective: Develop and implement at least 10 staff development programs by the end of june/2008. Strategies: the methods of achieving objectives e.g. continue to develop, implement, and evaluate continuing education programs for personnel.

Policies &procedures: are means for accomplishing goals and objectives.

Policies: A guide lines for decision making , thinking , and how authority can be delegated. Policy attributes: 1.comprehensive. 2.Flexible. 3.consistency. 4.Fairness. 5. should be written; 6. Understandable.

Continue………… 7. Can be implied or expressed. Expressed policy can be oral or written. Oral policies are more flexible than written ones and can be easily adjusted to changing circumstances. 8. should help to solve or prevent specific problems

Policies can emerges in several ways 1.originated: are usually developed by top management to guide subordinates in their functions. It is broader policy. 2.Appealed: developed from appeals are likely to be incomplete, uncoordinated, and unclear. 3.Imposed or external: are thrust on an organization by external forces, such as government or labor unions

Procedures: are the guidelines to actions and performance by enumerating the chronological sequence of steps. Procedures manuals provide a basis for orientation and staff development and are a ready reference for all personnel. Written procedures demands a consistent format that considers the definition; purpose; materials needed and how to locate, requisition, and dispose of them; steps in the procedures…………..appropriate charting.