S.W.O.T. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)

S.W.O.T. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)

For this assignment, you will apply the S.W.O.T. Situational Planning Strategy introduced in Chapter 4, based upon the following:

Situation: 

You are the C.E.O. of Community South Medical Center, a large, urban for-profit healthcare facility.  This institution has comprehensive health services including acute care, residential care, independent living, in-home nursing, hospice, neonatal, and pediatric services, advanced cardiac services, a major trauma center, a center of excellence for pulmonary services, and neurosurgery center.

Community South Medical Center has a positive bottom line and is striving to enhance health services for the population it serves.  The patient care mix has shifted in the last three years and its reimbursement source is currently:  25% Medicaid(up 20%); 35% Medicare (down 12 %); 25% employer sponsored health insurance (unchanged), 8% managed care (down 20 percent), 4%private pay (unchanged) and 4% no-pay (up 25%).

The Medical Center is in an older urban area.  Businesses with well paying jobs have gradually been replaced by smaller shops and other small businesses.  Overall, the community is trending towards a predominantly elderly population. 

The Medical Center has an excellent reputation and has been recognized in the past by receiving an Aldridge Center of Excellence evaluation and a The Joint Commission (T.J.C.) approval for their quality of services; however, recent self-inspections indicated alight decline in compliance with T.J.C. standards.  Patient satisfaction survey results have an overall mean of 95 percent.  The medical staff strongly supports new program development and there is an abundant supply of physicians.

Currently, the major issues confronting the Community South Medical Center are: an identified shortage of clinical staff including registered nurses, respiratory therapists, and medical technologists; non-interfacing information technology systems; antiquated facilities and infrastructure; decline in T.J.C. compliance on internal audits; and a shift to its financial mix.

Action:

As the C.E.O., it is time to embark on the annual updating of the organization’s strategic plan.  The last major revision to the strategic direction was completed three years ago.  

In a three to four page (excluding title and reference pages), double-spaced paper, respond to the following questions