NURS FPX 8020 Assessment 2 Strategic Plan Development

Strategic Plan Development

Student Name

Capella University

NURS-FPX8020

Professor Name

Submission Date

Strategic Plan Development

The Cleveland Clinic is a globally acknowledged and non-profit academic medical center with a patient care, research, and education mission. According to Kabeyi (2020), strategic plan appraisal helps healthcare organizations to match the capabilities of the organization with the external demands and define measurable goals for sustainable success. The department of cardiology identified some strategic priorities to improve the department’s operational efficiency, patient outcomes and workforce development. The assessment addresses strategic alignment, power structures, policy implications, and ethical considerations and provides a broad view of departmental planning in a complex healthcare system.

Departmental Strategic Priorities

The cardiology department in the Cleveland Clinic had developed strategic priorities using the balanced scorecard model to align with the overall mission of the organization. The first strategic priority of the department in the financial aspect is to cut down on unnecessary diagnostic test costs by 10% in the next fiscal year by the adoption of evidence-based protocols and artificial intelligence (AI) supported diagnostics (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). Initial investments will go to the upgrading of diagnostic decision-support systems as well as training staff on cost-effective care models. The process of allocating resources to higher-level diagnostic software and ongoing utilization review ensures financial goals are met while not compromising patient outcomes. The priority is significant for eliminating wasteful spending, enhancing cost efficiency, and making the department sustainable in a value-based care environment (Yoo et al., 2021). The objective is achievable, as there is an availability of internal analytics tools and support from financial planning teams in the health system.

The next priority, customer domain, is to increase patient satisfaction scores associated with communication and timely care in cardiology outpatient clinics by 15% in the next 12 months. Utilizing digital scheduling systems, patient portals, and satisfaction feedback loops will help identify barriers and streamline interactions. Cleveland Clinic values hospital consumer assessment of healthcare providers and systems (HCAHPS) scores, and patient-centred care are of high priority and in direct alignment with institutional objectives.

The priority is vital to achieve the CMS performance benchmarks and avoid preventable hospitalizations, which can increase costs and reduce patient quality of life (Solanki et al., 2021). All staff members, including the cardiologists, nurses, discharge planners, and pharmacists, will work together to develop individualized discharge plans, follow-up appointments, and medication reconciliation.

The fourth strategic priority, the learning and growth domain, for the department is to expand staff training in cultural competency and new digital tools, 40 hours per year, full-time equivalent, for underserved populations and integration with AI. The cultural competency education will help clinicians to offer respectful, personalized care, especially in diverse urban populations (Hempel et al., 2023). Training in AI applications will prepare the staff for digital transitions that will improve the accuracy of diagnosis and speed of operations. The initiative is reflective of the Cleveland Clinic’s interest in caregiver engagement and innovation (Hempel et al., 2023). Hence, such priorities are appropriate for quality improvement projects and are consistent with long-term departmental growth and satisfaction in providing care.

Effects of Organizational Policies

The NURS FPX 8020 Assessment 2: Organizational policies play an essential role in determining the strategic priorities of the cardiology department at the Cleveland Clinic. The organization formulates policies that attempt to standardize the means of delivering care, compliant with the regulatory bodies, and to align departmental goals with overall institutional strategies. One of the organizational policies is the clinical pathway protocol for heart failure management, which directly supports the decrease in 30-day readmissions in the cardiology department. Resource allocation for the care coordination and discharge planning teams provides for improved post-discharge follow-up and intervention (Alradhi & Alanazi, 2023). The clinical documentation and care standardization requirements assist the cardiology department in identifying the high-risk patients and enacting timely interventions. Healthcare staff are trained and responsible for documentation quality, which adds to improved continuity of care and outcome tracking (Hempel et al., 2023). The coordinated effort is a structured framework for implementing quality improvement efforts within the cardiology department.

Well-structured policies can help to increase consistency and accountability in the implementation of departmental activities. Thus, the policy is partly restrictive to the cardiology department. Additionally, the restrictive budgeting policies reduce the discretionary spending on advanced training programs and AI diagnostic tools that can support the learning and growth objectives (Kiss et al., 2023). The small amount of money can hinder the implementation of new innovative technologies and limit opportunities for professional development.

Implications of Policies

Understanding the impact of policies on day-to-day operations is critical to the strategic implementation and long-term effectiveness of the cardiology department’s ability to manage its activities. The success of priority implementation is closely related to the policies that regulate staffing, budgeting, and clinical practice. Allocation of resources and policy support can bring about improvement in care coordination and patient satisfaction (Hempel et al., 2023). However, the policies that limit the flexibility of hiring and spending on innovation can result in operational bottlenecks. Not effectively managing the policy implications may potentially slow down the progress towards the departmental key performance indicators (KPIs) and reduce the impact of quality improvement projects (Solanki et al., 2021). Addressing the implications of the policies warrants regular review, stakeholder input and policy reform to facilitate adaptive and data-driven departmental growth.

Alignment between Departmental Strategic Priorities

The strategic priorities for the cardiology department are created to address the strategic plan of the Cleveland Clinic as a whole. An imperative departmental strategic priority is to save an unnecessary cost of 10% on diagnostic testing, which is consistent with the financial goal of the Cleveland Clinic that aims to improve the efficiency of its operations and manage its healthcare costs (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). The departmental strategic priority has a direct connection with the institution’s emphasis on value-based care and sustainable budgeting. Next, the customer domain-based departmental priority concerns improving the patient satisfaction score in outpatient cardiology services using digital tools and real-time feedback systems. The domain is consistent with the Cleveland Clinic’s system-wide focus on improving patient-centred care (targeted to exceed HCAHPS benchmarks). Moving forward, the strategic priority for the internal process in the cardiology department is to enhance the rate of 30-day heart failure readmission by implementing better discharge planning and care coordination (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). As such, the multidisciplinary team is working with the wider clinical priority of the Cleveland Clinic of reducing preventable readmissions by integrated care pathways and quality monitoring.

Operationally, in the learning and growth domain, the department focuses on training its staff on cultural competency and digital innovation, which includes a goal of 40 hours of training a year per full-time employee. Through training, the department builds the capacity both in terms of caregiver engagement and digital readiness. Meanwhile, the strategic priority of the organization is to take the lead in innovation and employee development through digital transformation and workcapacity building (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). Through department and organizational alignment, the department of cardiology makes direct contributions to system-wide outcomes and long-term sustainability. A crosswalk table, which is included in Appendix A, clearly shows the alignments, linking each departmental focus area with the corresponding organizational strategic objective.

Department Balance Scorecard

The strategic priorities of the cardiology department are parallel to the overall strategic priorities of the Cleveland Clinic. Still, there are specific areas for which it is necessary to focus on optimizing the department. With the financial aspect of the balanced scorecard, the department is focused on reducing the unnecessary cost of diagnostic testing by 10% through the implementation of AI-supported decision tools and the standardization of diagnostic protocols (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). The approach will eliminate waste and increase clinical efficiency, which will address national concerns about healthcare spending. According to the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (2025), close to 20% of healthcare spending is for unnecessary or duplicative tests. The customer domain’s second priority is to improve patient satisfaction scores, especially in outpatient communication and timeliness. The use of Digital Patient Portals, real-time feedback systems, and staff training programs will address the concerns and improve patient experiences.

NURS FPX 8020 Assessment 2: Department of Cardiologu

The third priority of the department of cardiology, as part of internal process targets, is the reduction of 30-day readmission due to heart failure by improving the coordination of care and planning at the time of discharge. Thus, the department is focused on interprofessional collaboration and post-discharge risk mitigation strategies (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). The fourth departmental priority for learning and growth focuses on staff development in terms of cultural competency and digital health innovation. For the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, investing in continuous learning helps to ensure agility in the workforce and better care delivery (Vasileiou & Sfakianaki, 2024). Departmental initiatives for the domain include structured training programs and compulsory professional development modules (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). A balanced strategic framework allows the department to monitor performance and change initiatives in real-time. A balanced scorecard for the objectives, metrics, targets and initiatives is provided in Appendix B.

Formal and Informal Lines of Power

The Cleveland Clinic has formal as well as informal power lines that have a significant impact on the operations, culture and decision-making process. Formal power structures involve hierarchical chains of command that affect the board of governors, executive leadership, department chairs, and administrative managers who make strategic and operational decisions (Bruni & Kaczur, 2021). Clinical supervisors and care coordinators also have positional authority and are accountable for day-to-day decisions, performance oversight and enforcement of policies within their respective units. Informal power can be found in veteran nurses, physicians and support staff; the power wielded by knowledgeable staff can lead to informal power through the influence of one’s reputation and interpersonal relationships to shape the behaviour of fellow team members and patterns of patient care (Paynton, 2020). Patients and families also have informal power through online reviews, patient satisfaction surveys and public reporting systems, which can affect the Cleveland Clinic’s reputation and Medicare star ratings (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). The power patterns in the Cleveland Clinic reflect a complex pattern of authority, expertise, personal influence, and pressure from external stakeholders.

The power structures in the Cleveland Clinic have a significant effect on organizational culture, policy implementation, and communication. The formal authority of leadership is the assurance of compliance with regulatory compliance and strategic goals and affects policies from the top down (Singh et al., 2024).  Therefore, a proper balance of power that exists between both official positions and informal influence is crucial to ensure the manifestation of ethical behaviour, cohesion, and accountability across the organization.

Ethical Dimensions

Being aware of the ethical aspects of power structures is vital to creating a just and supportive environment. The organization has to uphold the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics, including autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice principles to provide a guide for leadership and practice (Varkey, 2021). Principles of autonomy enable staff and patients to make decisions with information without undue coercion or hierarchical pressure. The beneficence principle is used in support of powering to promote well-being and create a safe and nurturing environment for all stakeholders. 

Conclusion

The cardiology department at the Cleveland Clinic developed strategic priorities that reflect institutional goals while addressing specific departmental needs for financial sustainability, patient satisfaction, process improvement and staff development. Additionally, the policies affect the feasibility and the implementation of the priorities in terms of resource allocation and operational constraints. Balancing formal authority and informal influence to ensure transparency, motivation and responsiveness at all levels.