Health Care Success Story -

Challenge: A 266-bed non-profit, acute care general hospital located in New York was looking to update its strategic plan. This JCAHO-accredited community-owned hospital owned an ambulatory care clinic and had recently purchased a laboratory from the county in which it was located. Intensive physician recruitment efforts were paying off and construction of a new 80-bed skilled nursing facility was to start soon. The hospital was financially viable, however, the region had experienced a significant loss of its industrial base and as result, unemployment in the region was nearly 9%. The hospital was dealing with 3 unions and was going to be entering into union negotiations in the upcoming year. Financial pressures were mounting, as were concerns about the future of the State’s reimbursement system. The hospital needed to engage their board of directors, senior managers and their physicians in a discussion to clarify their future.

JCS Solution: We surveyed all board members, management staff and physicians to obtain their insight about the organization and their transition from being an acute care provider to becoming an organization providing a continuum of services. We attained a 79% response rate to our written survey and the information in it was augmented by in-depth interviews of all planning participants to obtain deeper insight. We identified the critical issues facing the hospital and gaps in the common ground of understanding and concern. We conducted a strategic planning and visioning session with the board, along with the professional and medical staff, to help them discuss the issues and prioritize what needed to be done to ensure that its acute, outpatient and preventative care services met the on-going needs of their community.

Results: The planning session generated a significant level of enthusiasm among the participants and a high level of dialog among the different attendee groups. The board and staff found it to be an extremely positive and productive experience. Everyone felt that the session allowed for deeper communication and the ability to clarify critical issues with their medical staff.

Research Services:

• Comprehensive Secondary Research
• Demographic Analysis
• In-Depth Qualitative Interviews
• Competitor Intelligence
• Focus Groups
• Surveys

Analysis Services:

• Market Studies
• Company Evaluations
• Situation Analysis
• Market Opportunity Analysis
• Industry Trends Analysis
• Product or Service Concept Development
• Marketing Audits

Planning Services:

• Strategic Planning
• Business Planning
• Marketing Planning
• Business Start-up or Expansion
• Individual Business Coaching