Ashford 5: – Week 4 – Assignment 3
S.W.O.T. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities,
Threats)
For this assignment, using the situation given below,
apply the S.W.O.T. Situational Planning Strategy which was described in Chapters
4 and 7 of your course text:
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 a 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jobs have gradually been replaced by smaller shops and other small businesses.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 a Baldrige Center of Excellence evaluation and a The Joint
Commission (T.J.C.) approval for their quality of services; however, recent
self-inspections indicated a slight 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 four- to
six-page (excluding title and reference pages) double-spaced paper, consider and
respond to the following points:
You must use a minimum of four scholarly sources, excluding the course text,
cited according to APA format as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Your
paper and all sources must be formatted according to APA style.
Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that
will be used to evaluate your assignment.