Developing An Action Plan

Developing An Action Plan

Imagine that you are the Director of the Admitting Department of a hospital, and your strategy to increase patient satisfaction is to hire additional staff to register patients. Outline the action plan (who, what, and when) that you would use in order to effectively implement your strategy. (Consider a time when you or someone you know visited the admitting department of a hospital.)

From the scenario in part 1 of this discussion, determine two specific unit objectives that would help to ensure the success of your strategy. Provide a rationale for your response.

Determine three barriers that could disrupt an action plan geared towards implementing a new strategy. Propose solutions to these foreseen barriers. Additionally, suggest three factors that are necessary to the successful implementation of an action plan strategy. Provide a rationale for your belief in the importance of these three factors.

Paper For Above instruction

The development and implementation of an effective action plan is crucial in healthcare management, particularly when aiming to improve patient satisfaction through strategic staffing increases. As the Director of the Admitting Department at a hospital, the primary goal is to enhance the efficiency and warmth of patient registration processes by hiring additional staff. This action plan requires careful consideration of personnel, tasks, and timelines, along with clearly defined objectives and potential barriers to success.

Action Plan: Who, What, and When

To efficiently implement the strategy of increased staffing, the action plan begins with identifying the key personnel involved. The human resources department, under my direction, would take the lead in recruiting qualified registration staff. The immediate step (who) involves collaborating with HR to develop job descriptions, advertise positions, and shortlist candidates. The target date for posting the positions would be within the first week of decision approval, aiming to complete the hiring process within four weeks. This allows sufficient time for interviews, background checks, and onboarding procedures.

The 'what' component encompasses specific tasks: creating detailed job descriptions to attract suitable candidates, establishing a recruitment timeline, and setting performance expectations for new hires. Training sessions would be scheduled promptly after hiring to equip staff with hospital registration protocols, customer service standards, and familiarity with electronic health records systems.

The timeline ('when') must be realistic yet decisive. The hiring process would commence immediately upon approval, aiming to have new staff fully onboarded and operational within 4-6 weeks. Regular check-ins would ensure progress tracking, addressing any recruitment or training challenges promptly.

Unit Objectives for Success

Two specific unit objectives are critical for this strategy’s success. Firstly, establishing a baseline measurement of current patient satisfaction scores related to registration processes enables benchmarking progress and effectiveness of the added staff. For example, setting a goal to improve satisfaction scores by 10% within three months provides a concrete target.

Secondly, reducing patient wait times during registration is essential. A specific objective might be to decrease wait times by 15 minutes per patient within two months post-hiring. Achieving this objective directly correlates with enhanced patient experience and can be monitored through patient flow tracking data.

These objectives are vital because they provide measurable benchmarks that directly link staffing increases to patient experience improvements, facilitating targeted adjustments if needed.

Barriers and Solutions

Several barriers could obstruct the execution of this action plan:

• Recruitment Delays: Lengthy hiring processes or lack of qualified candidates might delay staffing. Solution: Initiate the recruitment process early, leveraging multiple channels such as online job portals, local community outreach, and staffing agencies, to expedite candidate sourcing.
• Budget Constraints: Limited financial resources may restrict the ability to hire adequate staff. Solution: Present a cost-benefit analysis demonstrating long-term savings due to improved patient satisfaction and potential reductions in complaints or legal issues, thus justifying budget allocation.
• Resistance to Change: Existing staff may resist new hires or procedural changes. Solution: Engage current staff early in the planning process, soliciting their input and emphasizing the benefits of improved workflows, which can foster cooperation and acceptance.

These solutions proactively address common barriers, ensuring smoother implementation of the staffing strategy.

Factors for Successful Implementation

Three critical factors for the success of this action plan include:

1. Leadership Engagement: Ensuring leadership actively supports the initiative creates momentum and accountability.
2. Effective Communication: Transparent and ongoing communication channels keep all stakeholders informed, aligned, and motivated.
3. Training and Development: Continuous training ensures new staff are competent and confident, directly affecting service quality.

These factors are essential because leadership sets the tone, communication fosters collaboration, and training maintains high standards of patient care. Without them, even a well-planned strategy can falter due to misunderstandings, lack of support, or inadequate skill development.

In conclusion, developing a detailed action plan with clear responsibilities, objectives, and solutions to potential barriers significantly improves the likelihood of successful implementation. Coupled with focus on critical success factors—leadership, communication, and training—this approach can markedly elevate patient satisfaction in the admitting department, ultimately contributing to the hospital’s overall quality of care.

References

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