Institutional Development Plans in Healthcare

The institutional development plan is one of the most important features of the healthcare environment. Although various healthcare organizations have created and implemented institutional development plans, researchers do note that what works for one organization will not always be effective for another. This is due, in part, to the fact that each healthcare organization has a different culture and environment (The big..., 1997). Despite the fact that a specific institutional development plan may not be effective for a particular healthcare institution, there is ample evidence to suggest that there are general rule and protocols that can be followed when designing this type of program.

The first step that has been identified by scholars as important to the planning process is setting a philosophy for the plan. According to one author, "A synthesis of all influences practically viable for inclusion was used to develop the site planning philosophy" (The big..., p. 11). Patient groups can then be identified within the organization. This data can subsequently be used for identifying patient needs and the staff requirements that are necessary to meet patient group needs. In addition, the institution can utilize current healthcare and community data needed to expand the healthcare facility. Based on this information the healthcare facility will be able to formulate a strategy the meets community needs with the ability of the organization to expand in the future.

Other scholars looking at the institutional development plan argue that the organization must also take into consider the financial constraints that have been placed on the healthcare facility. As noted by Walters and Nokels (2004) the institutional development plan is different from traditional strategic plans for the organization in that it is a "strategy-driven approach" which identifies and prioritizes major capital requirements over a 10 year planning horizon" (p. 78). The benefits of this type of strategy include: the ability of the organization to understand interconnections among projects, the ability of the organization to achieve cost stabilization and savings, allow the organization to match needs with capital resources, and provide a management framework for allocating resources over the long-term.

Developing a Plan

With a basic overview of the benefits and importance of institutional development plans for healthcare organizations elucidated, it is now possible to consider what specific steps could be used in the creation of such a plan. Clearly, any healthcare organization choosing to design an institutional development plan must consider data from both the internal and external environment of the organization. In particular, the healthcare organization must assess its current operations and determine how these operations meet the needs of the community being served. Once the organization has a clear understanding of how it fits into the larger context of the community, it will be better poised to make critical decisions about what programs should be expanded and which should be discontinued (if any). In addition assessment of the position of the healthcare organization in the community will help managers in the organization align the mission and purpose of the institution with the needs of the community. In doing so, the organization will be poised to simultaneously match the growth and development of the organization with the growth and development of the community.

Once the organization as assessed its internal and external environments, the next step for the organization would be to assess the financial structure of the organization to determine if it is financially capable of meeting the needs of the community in the long-term. If the capital requirements of the organization cannot be met, steps must be taken to create a cohesive strategic plan that purposefully utilizes resources while seeking to expand funding for the organization. In short, the healthcare organization must be able to ensure that it has the capital resources needed to match community and organizational needs for at least 10 years. The end result of this process should be the creation of a formal plan that will provide the organization with a clear framework for moving the organization forward.

While the creation of a general plan for organizational development will serve as the foundation for creating change in the organization, if the healthcare institution is to be fully successful, it will have to break the overall plan down into smaller components that can be effectively implemented, measured and evaluated. This process will require the organization to set smaller short-term goals that will contribute to achieving the institutional development plan. The short-term objectives will need to be established in concrete quantifiable terms that will provide the organization with a clear-cut means for measuring progress toward meeting the institutional plan. Periodic evaluation of short-term objectives will provide the organization with necessary data to determine if the organization is moving in the right direction. This data will also provide some indication of the timeframe in which certain objectives can be met.

Finally, the organization must consider the specific steps that it will take to evaluate the long-term institutional development plan. In some cases, the plan may need to be reexamined in order to match the outcomes of the plan with the conditions of the external and internal organizational progress. Mangers in the organization need to assess progress such that the long-term plan can be changed if necessary. Arguably, there are a host of internal and external events that can shape the development of organizational discourse. By keeping the institutional development plan flexible, the healthcare organization should be able to effectively alter plans such that organizational readjustment can occur in a cohesive manner. Only through consistent assessment will this be possible.

References

The big picture. (1997). HD: The Journal for Healthcare Design & Development, 28(6), 11-13.

Walters, S.M., & Nokels, K.J. (2004). Your capital strategy. Healthcare Financial Management, 58(5), 78-83.