Information for Healthcare Improvement

Dear Physician,

Here is a complimentary Strategic Planning Tool we developed especially for your practice. This simple tool will help you create an action plan to achieve your goals for providing culturally competent healthcare over the next year(s).

The Strategic Planning Tool is set up in an easy-to-use framework that maps out what to do and how to do it:

Purpose:Assist your practice in meeting and sustaining conformance with Standard #8 of the Office of Minority Health’s National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health Care which states, “Health care organizations should develop, implement and promote a written strategic plan that outlines clear goals, policies, operational plans and management accountability/oversight mechanisms to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services.”

This tool will help you develop: Your organization’s mission statement Your organization’s vision Your organization’s values Your organization’s objectives, goals and action plan A SWAT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) of your organization

The tool contains: Guidelines for developing a strategic plan for your practices with

Brief examples of what you might cover in your own plan How to analyze your plan design to determine your focus

Two, easy-to-use strategic plan templates, with instructions Electronic Hardcopy

There’s no one way to conduct strategic planning, so don’t worry if your practice or plan doesn’t follow this outline exactly. The important thing is to have a plan and to work toward achieving your goals.

Need help? Please feel free to contact Laura Gamba at 800-564-7490, extension 3920 if you have any questions or wish additional help.

FL20071DF1D232510440. This material was prepared by FMQAI, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for Florida, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy.

Free Strategic Planning Tool For Your Practice

STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOL

A Strategic Plan Should Include the Following:

I. Mission Statement: A brief description of the purpose of the organization. Your mission statement should be posted in a prominent location in your office. How do you wish to render value to your patients? Example:

II. Vision: A description of how you want the organization to operate in the future and how your patients will benefit. What do you want your practice to look like? Example:

III. Values Statement: Lists how you want the organization to operate. This often is on moral values such as integrity, honesty, respect, etc., but it could include operational values such as increasing efficiency, timeliness, communication, etc. Example:

IV. Objectives: What health benefits will there be? Some examples might be to:1. Increase immunization levels 2. Improve diagnosis of critical conditions such as diabetes3. Increase compliance regarding treatment methods

MISSIONTo deliver the highest possible quality of care to each patient, with respect and special attention to each person’s racial, ethnic and sociocultural background and needs.

VISIONTo be known as the most caring healthcare facility and the most effective in diagnosing and treating every patient through better communication and understanding. In this manner, we will lower the critical effects of specific diseases such as diabetes by at least {enter % rate} within the next year.

VALUESAll patients are to be treated equally, regardless of race, ethnicity or socioeconomic background and given the best possible available care and consideration. Our values are to ensure open communication with the patient and to treat each patient holistically, not just as a disease or an illness. For this, we are committed to continuous performance improvement, both medically and in our patient focus. These values are the responsibility of each individual within our organization.

V. Goals: What specific issues do you want to address for the next year and what results do you want to obtain? What must be achieved in order to improve culturally and linguistically appropriate services for your practice? Goals should be quantifiable, consistent, realistic and achievable. To be achievable, you may want to limit your goals for the next year to only two or three. Examples of such goals for the underserved population might be:

1. To increase pneumonia immunization among Hispanic speaking patients by {enter % rate}

2. To improve communications among the Vietnamese population in order to increase efficiency in providing better diagnosis, treatment and positive outcomes

3. To increase proper usage of inhalers for all asthmatic patients

VI. Action Plan: What actions or methods are needed to meet each goal? How will you obtain your objectives? What budget, if any might be set aside for training or special services? Make sure your goals and actions reflect your organization’s mission and values relating to cultural and linguistic competency. An example of an action plan for improving usage of inhalers might include the following steps:

1. Demonstrate how the inhaler is used2. Be aware of the language and/or culture differences with your patient3. Let the patient show how he/she thinks it should be done4. Provide materials explaining, in the patient’s language, the use of an inhaler 5. For patients who need additional help, arrange for a nurse to visit their home

and practice with them6. Have staff follow up with patient to determine level of understanding/

compliance

VII. SWOT (An acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis: In order to develop your strategic plan, you might first want to do an analysis of your current environment and situation to determine where you currently stand regarding cultural and linguistically appropriate services and where you would like to be. SWOTs help identify possible strategies for building on strengths, resolving or mitigating weaknesses, taking advantage of opportunities and avoiding threats. This information can be added to your strategic plan as an appendix.

Often a SWOT analysis is filled out in a table such as the one shown below:StrengthsExcellent reputationIn business for {enter number}of yearsCaring staff with {enter number} of years of experienceModern equipment

WeaknessesOnly one physician is bilingualDifficulty in working with a growing Vietnamese population Not enough focus on obesity and related conditions

OpportunitiesGreater ability to hire bilingual staffBetter relationships with affiliated hospitals

ThreatsPossible bilingual clinic opening near primary office

TEMPLATE INSTRUCTIONS

The template on the next page is designed to help you produce your strategic plan. You can use this template for creating your final document.

Each topic title (in blue) on the template has a link back to the appropriate section of the Strategic Planning Guide, which you can access by clicking on the title. This link helps you decide what type of information is needed for each section and provides examples to consider as you develop your plan.

If you use the template electronically, you can refer back to the topic descriptions and examples by clicking on the links.

If you print out the template to fill out manually, you still have the Strategic Planning Guide as a reference.

DISCLAIMER: Material was prepared by the Underserved Quality Improvement Organization Support Center (UQIOSC), under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For questions and additional information: tn_uqiosc@tnqio.sdps.org 1.800.528.2655. Qsource-TN-TASK4-2007-14

STRATEGIC PLAN FOR {Enter Name}

Mission Statement:      

Vision:      

Values Statement:      

Objectives:      

Goals and Action Plan s :

Goal #1      Action Plan: 1.       2.      

3.      

Goal #2      Action Plan: 1.       2.       3.