Strategy and Vision in Health Care (Part 1)

Many health care organizations develop vision statements. In these statements are often lofty goals that are often not understood or followed. There is little recognition of the work that individuals in the organization perform that is linked to the vision. The other major concern is that once a vision in health care organizations has been developed there is often little review and little alignment with the strategic plan and the performance expectations throughout the organization.

A good vision in health care should be clear, compelling, and easy to communicate. One study showed that the amount of bandwidth of possible communication in an organization that is used to communicate vision is only 0.001%. If the vision in an organization is the direction that the organization is going and it is not communicated, is it little wonder that the average employee doesn't find his/her work valuable or exciting.

Developing a good vision in health care takes intentionality and structure. Instead of having a retreat with senior executives who come up with the vision, it is more important to formulate a group with broader representation that will allow for different perspectives and a greater "buy-in." This group should represent different stake holders in the organization.

In order to produce a good vision in the health care organization, the organization also needs to describe its values. Like vision, values are not words on a piece of paper, they are integral parts of why people do and react to the things they encounter. By discovering these values and sharing them across the organization, a stronger base develops to learn the true vision in health care organizations.

Not only does the health care organization need to describe its core values, but it also needs to understand its core ideology. Once the values and core ideology have been discovered by in depth evaluation within the organization, this can now form the foundation for a new "envisioned future." Envisage Health, Inc., is a group of consultants that have the tools and assessments needed to prepare a powerful and compelling vision in health care organizations. Each organization is unique and developing the organizations vision requires a road map, Envisage Health can help provide that road map.
Go to www.envisage-health.com for more information.

Simon Mittal, MD, MMM
CEO, Founder
Envisage Health, Inc.

Introduction

Envisage Health, Inc. is a health care consulting group that believes that aligning vision, strategy, process and people in health care can reduce cost, improve efficiency and improve care delivery and quality.

Go to www.envisage-health.com for more information or email at info@envisage-health.com