Healthcare strategies refer to the plans and initiatives that healthcare organizations implement to meet their goals and objectives. Some key healthcare strategies include improving population health, enhancing the patient experience, reducing costs, leveraging technology, and aligning providers through value-based care models.
Improving Population Health
One of the main goals of healthcare organizations today is improving overall population health. This involves focusing on preventive care, managing chronic diseases, and addressing social determinants of health. Strategies for improving population health include:
- Implementing community health programs to promote healthy behaviors and prevent disease
- Using data analytics to identify high-risk patients and gaps in care
- Increasing access to care through convenient locations, telehealth, and transportation services
- Partnering with community organizations to address housing, food insecurity, transportation, and other social needs
- Expanding mental health and addiction treatment services
Taking a population health approach allows healthcare systems to keep entire communities healthier and reduce preventable hospital utilization.
Community Health Programs
Community health programs are initiatives targeted at entire populations in a geographic area, not just individual patients. These programs aim to address root causes of health issues, close care gaps, and remove barriers to optimal health. Examples include:
- Health education campaigns to promote smoking cessation, physical activity, healthy eating, and disease prevention/screenings
- Free or low-cost exercise classes, nutrition counseling, and health screenings
- Home visits by community health workers to assist high-risk patients
- Targeted outreach to encourage preventive care for those overdue
By focusing on whole communities, these programs can achieve broader impacts on population health indicators like obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease rates.
Social Determinants of Health
Social determinants of health are the economic, physical, and social conditions that affect health outcomes. These include factors like income, education, housing, transportation, safety, and access to nutritious foods. Healthcare strategies to address social determinants include:
- Screening patients to identify unmet social needs
- Connecting patients to community resources and government programs
- Partnering with organizations like food banks, meal delivery, and transportation services
- Advocating for policy changes to improve economic and living conditions
- Investing in affordable housing and other community development initiatives
Mitigating adverse social determinants through coordinated efforts can lower health costs and improve overall community well-being.
Enhancing the Patient Experience
Providing an excellent patient experience is increasingly a top priority for healthcare organizations. Strategies for improving the patient experience include:
- Optimizing access to care through convenient online and in-person options
- Redesigning care delivery around patient needs and preferences
- Improving communication and shared decision-making with patients
- Leveraging technology like online portals and telehealth to engage patients
- Monitoring patient satisfaction through surveys and addressing identified weak points
- Implementing patient experience training and incentives for staff
Focusing on patient experience leads to higher satisfaction, loyalty, and better health outcomes as patients become more activated and engaged in their care.
Care Access Strategies
Improving access to care through both in-person and virtual options makes it easier for patients to get the services they need. Some key access strategies include:
- Extended office hours in the early morning, evening, and weekends
- Multiple office locations and walk-in clinics
- 24/7 nurse advice lines and online scheduling
- Telehealth visits via phone, video, and patient portals
- Mobile health services like care vans bringing services into communities
- Transportation assistance getting to and from appointments
Flexible, convenient care models allow patients to get preventive services and treatment for episodic needs while reducing costly emergency department utilization.
Shared Decision-Making
Shared decision-making involves clinicians and patients working together to make healthcare choices based on clinical evidence and the patient’s preferences. Steps in the shared decision-making process include:
- The clinician explains the patient’s condition and outlines treatment options
- The clinician provides information on the risks and benefits of each option
- The patient expresses their preferences and goals for treatment
- The clinician and patient discuss options and agree on a treatment plan
This collaborative approach results in greater patient satisfaction and engagement. Patients are more likely to adhere to treatment plans they feel involved in determining.
Reducing Costs
The high cost of healthcare is an enormous burden for patients, payers, and society. Healthcare organizations employ various strategies to reduce costs and improve efficiency, including:
- Standardizing care protocols and supplies systemwide
- Utilizing lower-cost generic medications when possible
- Eliminating unnecessary tests and procedures
- Shortening hospital stays through enhanced recovery protocols
- Monitoring staffing ratios and optimizing labor costs
- Retrofitting facilities to improve energy efficiency
While focusing on cost-cutting, organizations must be careful not to sacrifice healthcare quality, outcomes, or patient experience.
Lean Methodology
Many healthcare systems adopt Lean methodology to enhance operational efficiency while eliminating waste. Key principles of Lean include:
- Identifying and mapping value streams in care delivery
- Reducing waiting times and delays for patients and staff
- Cutting unnecessary movement and transportation in facilities
- Eliminating defects and errors through quality improvement
- Standardizing efficient processes organization-wide
- Engaging staff at all levels in improvement initiatives
By systematically applying Lean principles, healthcare organizations can improve productivity, lower costs, and enhance the patient experience.
Supply Chain Optimization
Managing supplies and materials efficiently presents many cost-saving opportunities, including:
- Renegotiating contracts with vendors to get better pricing
- Limiting product variation by standardizing supplies/devices used
- Tracking usage patterns to avoid over-purchasing
- Centralizing and optimizing inventory management and distribution
- Utilizing group purchasing arrangements to get bulk discounts
- Exploring lower-cost substitute items that meet clinical needs
A well-managed supply chain reduces both direct costs and the labor expenses associated with handling supplies.
Leveraging Technology
Information technology provides tools that are transforming healthcare delivery in many ways. Strategic use of technology enables healthcare organizations to:
- Simplify administrative tasks and communication
- Reduce paperwork and manual data entry
- Improve clinical decision-making with data analytics
- Engage patients through online portals and tools
- Expand access to care through telehealth platforms
- Share patient information securely between providers
Investing in the right systems and workflows to capitalize on advances in healthcare IT can improve efficiency, quality, communication, and patient satisfaction.
Health Information Exchanges
Health information exchanges (HIEs) allow clinical data to be shared electronically between different healthcare organizations. Benefits of connectivity through an HIE include:
- Providers can access patient medical history from across care settings
- Duplicate testing is avoided by viewing previous results
- Real-time alerts notify providers of emergency department visits
- Population health analytics identify gaps at the community level
- Transitions between facilities are smoother with data accessibility
By participating in a localized or statewide HIE, healthcare organizations can enhance coordination and continuity of care.
Patient Portals
Patient portals are secure online platforms linked to a healthcare provider’s electronic health record system. Common patient portal features include:
- Booking appointments online
- Messaging healthcare providers
- Viewing test results and visit summaries
- Requesting medication refills
- Downloading health records
- Tracking chronic disease management
Patient portals make care more accessible and convenient while enabling greater patient engagement in their health.
Value-Based Care Models
Value-based care aims to improve health outcomes relative to healthcare costs. Strategies to advance value-based care include:
- Entering into shared savings arrangements with payers to share risks and rewards
- Forming accountable care organizations centered on population health
- Adopting bundled payments to cover entire care episodes
- Developing patient-centered medical homes with coordinated primary care
- Paying for performance on quality metrics in addition to volume of services
Transitioning away from pure fee-for-service models incentivizes providers to deliver efficient, effective, coordinated care.
Accountable Care Organizations
Accountable care organizations (ACOs) align groups of providers together to manage the health of a shared population. Key features of ACOs include:
- Networks include primary care, specialists, hospitals, and other providers
- Resources are pooled to invest in care coordination staff and infrastructure
- Providers are collectively accountable for cost and quality benchmarks
- Shared savings are achieved through enhanced preventive care and chronic disease management
ACO models promote coordination across care settings and engage providers in population health improvement.
Bundled Payments
In bundled payment models, providers receive a fixed payment to cover an entire episode of care. For example, one bundled price could cover:
- All preoperative, operative, and postoperative care for a joint replacement procedure
- Hospitalization and three months of post-discharge care for an acute medical condition
- One year of comprehensive care for a chronic illness like diabetes
Bundled payments incentivize providers to deliver care efficiently and reduce complications that could result in readmissions.
| Healthcare Strategy | Key Elements | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Improving Population Health | Community health initiatives, preventive care, addressing social determinants | Healthier communities, lower costs from preventing conditions |
| Enhancing Patient Experience | Convenient access, communication, customer service approach | Higher satisfaction, loyalty, engagement, outcomes |
| Reducing Costs | Lean principles, supply chain optimization, eliminating waste | Increased efficiency and financial sustainability |
| Leveraging Technology | Health IT systems, data analytics, telehealth, patient engagement tools | Improved communication, coordination, efficiency, and care quality |
| Value-Based Care Models | ACOs, bundled payments, pay for performance, risk sharing | Incentives to control costs and improve care quality/outcomes |
Conclusion
Developing and executing effective healthcare strategies allows organizations to remain competitive and successful in a complex, evolving industry. As value-based payment models gain momentum and keeping populations healthy becomes imperative, strategies that improve access, enhance the experience, reduce costs, leverage technology, and align providers around value will be key. Organizations must continuously evaluate internal capabilities, community needs, and market dynamics to adapt their strategies accordingly.
While strategy is critical, implementation through informed, empowered leadership and staff engagement at all levels will determine the extent of impact. Healthcare organizations that can successfully translate high-level strategies into day-to-day staff priorities and workflows will see the greatest improvements in their ability to provide superior, affordable care.
