Measuring Success Through Strategic Pillars
Delivering sustainable results requires more than just setting broad organizational targets. It’s about creating a system where every aspect of the organization, from leadership to individual departments, aligns its efforts with a unified purpose. To accomplish this, I propose using a “Pillar” framework by which we measure the success of our efforts across the critical areas of People, Process, and Plan (Employee Engagement/Culture, Lean Process Improvement, and Strategy).
These strategic pillars - Quality, Workforce, Patient Satisfaction, Finance, and Community - serve as foundational guides that shape our future. Each pillar will have overarching organizational goals that cascade down to specific departmental objectives, creating a cohesive framework where every hospital department plays an active role in achieving the organization’s mission.
The Importance of a Structured Goal-Setting Process
A critical part of this framework is the goal-setting process, which ensures alignment and accountability across the organization. Developing and implementing organizational and departmental goals requires careful planning, communication, and timing.
For the organizational goals, the process generally begins in the fall, when leadership starts crafting the high-level targets for the coming year. These goals are typically shaped by previous organizational performance and where there appear to be improvement opportunities. Throughout this phase, input from various stakeholders - including department heads and executive leaders - is critical to ensure the goals are realistic (yet challenging), aligned with the hospital’s mission, and reflective of industry benchmarks.
Once these organizational goals have been developed, they are presented to the board of directors for approval by year-end or at the start of the new year. This timeline allows for a strategic review and refinement process, ensuring the goals align with the hospital's long-term vision.
Departmental goals should follow closely behind, with development taking place in November and December. Each department must align its objectives with the newly approved organizational goals. This phase ensures that department heads collaborate with their teams to create actionable, measurable objectives that contribute to the organization's overall success. By setting these departmental goals before the new year begins, departments can start the year with a clear roadmap, knowing exactly how their efforts will contribute to organizational priorities.
The Importance of Cascading Goals
For these pillars to have a meaningful impact, they must cascade from high-level organizational goals to actionable departmental objectives. This creates alignment at every level, ensuring that each team member's daily work directly contributes to the organization’s broader mission.
Pillars in Action: Examples of Cascading Goals
1. Quality
Organizational Goal: Reduce hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) by 10% over the next year.
Cascading Departmental Goals:
Surgical Department: Implement a checklist protocol in operating rooms to ensure adherence to infection control practices, aiming for 100% compliance.
Infection Control Department: Conduct monthly training for all clinical staff on hand hygiene and sterile techniques, with a 95% participation rate.
Pharmacy Department: Optimize antibiotic stewardship programs to reduce the unnecessary use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and decrease associated HAIs by 15%.
By cascading the quality goal, each department is empowered to take ownership of a piece of the overall objective, creating a culture of continuous improvement focused on patient safety.
2. Employee Engagement
Organizational Goal: Achieve employee satisfaction scores in the 90th percentile by creating a more supportive, inclusive workplace.
Cascading Departmental Goals:
Human Resources: Implement a peer-mentorship program for new employees to enhance onboarding and job satisfaction, with a 90% participation rate from new hires.
Nursing Department: Introduce flexible scheduling options to support work-life balance. The target is to reduce nursing turnover by 10%.
Facilities Management: Conduct quarterly surveys to assess the adequacy of workspace environments, aiming for a 95% satisfaction rate in workplace conditions.
Engagement cascades down through each department’s objectives, showing that everyone - regardless of their role - has a part to play in creating a positive work environment.
3. Patient Satisfaction
Organizational Goal: Improve HCAHPS and general patient satisfaction scores by 5%, particularly in the areas of communication and responsiveness.
Cascading Departmental Goals:
Emergency Department: Implement a patient triage system to reduce wait times by 15%, ensuring faster access to care.
Patient Experience Department: Introduce a follow-up call system to contact discharged patients within 48 hours to address any concerns and assess their experience.
Food Services Department: Redesign the patient meal delivery process to accommodate dietary preferences and deliver meals within 30 minutes of the requested time.
The organization creates a cohesive and patient-centered culture by empowering departments to focus on patient satisfaction in their specific areas.
4. Finance
Organizational Goal: Improve operating margins by 5% through targeted efficiency and cost-saving initiatives.
Cascading Departmental Goals:
Supply Chain Department: Optimize vendor contracts and reduce supply costs by 7% through bulk purchasing and renegotiations.
Revenue Cycle Management: Reduce billing errors by 15% and improve the timeliness of claims submission, targeting a 5-day average.
IT Department: Implement a cloud-based records system that reduces data storage costs by 10% and increases data retrieval efficiency.
Financial success is often seen as administrative, but engaging each department in financial stewardship ensures that every unit contributes to financial health.
5. Community
Organizational Goal: Strengthen the hospital’s role as a community health leader by increasing participation in health events and initiatives by 20%.
Cascading Departmental Goals:
Marketing Department: Develop targeted campaigns for health awareness, increasing community engagement in hospital-led wellness programs by 25%.
Community Outreach Department: Organize monthly health screenings in underserved areas to serve 500 residents by year-end.
Volunteer Services Department: Expand volunteerism by introducing community-based projects, aiming to increase volunteer hours by 10%.
Fostering strong community relationships ensures that the hospital is seen as not only a place for treatment but also a hub for community health and wellness.
Achieving Alignment
These pillars' success and associated goals depend on proper integration into the hospital’s strategic planning and daily operations. Regular reviews of each department’s progress toward its specific goals will ensure accountability and offer opportunities for improvement. Starting in the fall and progressing to board approval by year-end, this structured goal-setting process ensures that every department begins the year with a clear understanding of its role in contributing to the hospital’s mission.
With this process in place, the hospital fosters a culture of transparency and growth. Leadership can make informed adjustments as needed, ensuring alignment between people, processes, and the overall plan.
Conclusion
By using strategic pillars as a framework for success, hospitals can ensure that every department aligns its efforts with the broader organizational mission. These pillars help measure success and create a shared sense of purpose, where every employee understands how their role contributes to the overall goals. This alignment of People, Process, and Plan creates a thriving environment focused on quality care, employee satisfaction, and community health.
