NURS FPX 8020 Assessment 2 Strategic Plan Development

NURS-FPX 8020 Assessment 2

Strategic Plan Development

Student Name

Capella University

NURS-FPX8020

Professor Name

Submission Date 

Strategic Plan Development

Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit academic medical center with a mission that focuses on patient care, research, and education, operating worldwide. Kabeyi (2020) explains that a strategic plan appraisal can help a healthcare organization to match internal capabilities and external requirements and establish achievable objectives that can lead to long-lasting success. The cardiology department has identified several strategic priorities aimed at enhancing operational efficiency, improving patient outcomes, and supporting workforce development. The evaluation looks at strategic alignment, power dynamics, policy implications, and ethical issues, and provides an in-depth view of departmental planning in a complex healthcare system.

Departmental Strategic Priorities

The cardiology department of the Cleveland Clinic established strategic priorities using the balanced scorecard model to align with the organization’s overall mission. The initial strategic focus of the department in the financial area is to cut the costs of unnecessary diagnostic testing by 10 percent in the following financial year, with the help of the introduction of evidence-based guidelines and artificial intelligence (AI) assisted diagnostics (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). The first investments will focus on upgrading the diagnostic decision-support systems and providing staff training in cost-effective care models. Investment in sophisticated diagnostic software and constant utilization review ensures that the financial objectives are achieved without any adverse effects on patient outcomes. The priority is essential to minimize wasteful expenditures, enhance cost-efficiency, and make the department sustainable in value-based care (Yoo et al., 2021). The goal is achievable, given the availability of internal analytics tools and the support of financial planning teams within the health system.

The customer domain is the next priority, aiming to increase patient satisfaction scores in terms of communication and timely care in cardiology outpatient clinics by 15 percent within 12 months. The application of digital scheduling, patient portal, and satisfaction feedback loop will be used to overcome obstacles and simplify interactions. At the Cleveland Clinic, great importance is given to the hospital consumer assessment of healthcare providers and systems (HCAHPS) scores and patient-centered care, and the purpose coincides with the institutional goals. Enhanced communication can reduce anxiety, increase treatment adherence, and improve long-term health outcomes (Alradhi & Alanazi, 2023). It is possible to measure and achieve this initiative as the department has access to patient experience data, communication training modules, and patient navigator support.

The third departmental priority, internal process, aims to reduce the readmission rate of patients with heart failure within 30 days to less than 16 percent by improving care coordination and discharge planning. Care transition teams and real-time electronic health record alerts will support the interprofessional collaboration by alerting to high-risk patients (Samuriwo, 2022). The priority is crucial to achieve CMS performance standards and avoid unnecessary hospitalization that can raise expenses and reduce the quality of life of patients (Solanki et al., 2021). The collaboration of all the staff members, such as cardiologists, nurses, discharge planners, and pharmacists, will facilitate the development of individualized discharge plans, follow-up appointments, and medication reconciliation.

The fourth strategic priority, the learning and growth area, of the department is to raise staff training in cultural competency and emerging digital tools by 40 hours per year per full-time employee, with a focus on underserved populations and AI integration. This type of cultural competency training will improve clinicians’ ability to provide respectful and individualized care, especially in heterogeneous urban populations (Hempel et al., 2023). The education on the use of AI will equip employees with the skills of digital transformations, enhancing the accuracy of diagnosis and operational velocity. The program demonstrates the attention of the Cleveland Clinic to caregiver involvement and innovations (Hempel et al., 2023). Therefore, these priorities are appropriate in quality improvement initiatives and are consistent with the long-term departmental development and high-quality care delivery.

Effects of Organizational Policies

Organizational policies play an essential role in determining the strategic priorities of the cardiology department at the Cleveland Clinic. The organization formulates policies that will standardize care delivery, allow adherence to regulatory bodies, and ensure that the departmental objectives are aligned with high-level institutional strategies. The clinical pathway protocol of heart failure management is one of the organizational policies that directly contributes to the decrease of 30-day readmissions in the cardiology department. The funding to the care coordination and discharge planning teams allows more follow-up and intervention to be done post-discharge (Alradhi & Alanazi, 2023). Clinical documentation and standardization of care requirements help the cardiology department identify high-risk patients and introduce prompt intervention. The quality of documentation is trained and held responsible by healthcare staff, which allows for achieving better continuity of care and follow-up of the outcomes (Hempel et al., 2023). The systematic approach creates an organized system for initiating quality improvement initiatives in the cardiology department.

Properly designed policies will promote uniformity and responsibility in the carrying out of activities in the department. Staffing policy, in its turn, tries to maximize the ratio of staff to patients and influence clinical efficiency and staff satisfaction (Solanki et al., 2021). The inflexible staffing grid, though, can be restrictive in terms of dealing with emergent surges in patient census or severity. In this way, the policy is limited to the cardiology department. Moreover, the conservative budgeting policies do not allow much discretionary capital to be spent on advanced training programs and AI diagnostic tools that can help promote learning and growth goals (Kiss et al., 2023). The shortage of financial resources can hinder the adoption of new technologies and reduce the possibility of professional growth.

• Policies Implications

Understanding the impact of policies on everyday work is the key to the strategic implementation of the work of the cardiology department and its long-term success. Priority implementation is highly dependent upon the policies of staffing, budgeting, and clinical practice. Care coordination and patient satisfaction may be improved with the help of allocated resources and policy support (Hempel et al., 2023). Nevertheless, policies that restrict the hiring process’s flexibility and limit innovation expenditure may lead to operational bottlenecks. Failure to manage the policy implications can impede the move towards departmental key performance indicators (KPIs) and diminish the effects of quality improvement projects (Solanki et al., 2021). The implications of the policies need to be addressed regularly, through stakeholder feedback and policy change, to facilitate an adaptive, data-driven departmental development.

Alignment between Departmental Strategic Priorities

The strategic priorities of the cardiology department are formulated with the view to achieving the overall strategic plan of the Cleveland Clinic organization. One departmental strategic priority is to save on unneeded diagnostic testing by 10 percent, which is in line with the financial objective of the Cleveland Clinic to operationalize efficiency and control healthcare costs (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). The strategic priority of the department is closely connected to the value-based care and sustainable budgeting focus of the institution. Second is the customer domain-based departmental priority of enhancing patient satisfaction scores through the use of digital tools and real-time feedback systems in outpatient cardiology services. The field is congruent with the system-wide focus of the Cleveland Clinic on the improvement of patient-centered care, which is expressed in the goal of surpassing HCAHPS benchmarks. As far as the next step is concerned, the strategic focus of the internal process of the cardiology department is to decrease 30-day readmission associated with heart failure due to enhanced discharge planning and care coordination (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). In this way, the multidisciplinary team is aligned with the larger clinical priority of the Cleveland Clinic that seeks to decrease the number of preventable readmissions by using integrated care pathways and quality monitoring.

Operationally, under the learning and growth domain, the department focuses on training its staff in cultural competency and digital innovation to ensure that each full-time employee receives a minimum of 40 hours of training per year. The department reinforces the engagement of caregivers and digital preparedness through training. In the meantime, the strategic focus of the organization is to be an innovator and employee developing organization using digital transformation and capacity building of the workforce (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). The cardiology department contributes directly to system-wide outcomes and long-term sustainability through the alignment of departmental and organizational priorities. The alignments are clearly illustrated in a crosswalk table, which is provided in Appendix A, and that connects each area of departmental focus with the related strategic objective of the organization.

Department Balance Scorecard

The strategic priorities of the cardiology department do not conflict with the overall objectives of the Cleveland Clinic, although specific aspects need to be addressed to streamline them. The financial element of the balanced scorecard can be identified with the department working on decreasing the number of unnecessary diagnostic testing costs by 10 percent by introducing AI-assisted decision-making tools and standardized diagnostic procedures (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). The strategy will minimize wastage and enhance clinical effectiveness, which is a national issue concerning healthcare expenditure. The U.S. Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services (2025) states that the percentage of healthcare spending based on unnecessary or duplicative testing is close to 20 per cent. The second domain of priorities in the customer area focuses on enhancing patient satisfaction scores, particularly in terms of communication and punctuality in outpatient care. The introduction of digital patient portals, real-time feedback systems, and staff training programs will address the issues and enhance patient experiences.

In the case of internal process targets, the third priority of the cardiology department is the decrease in 30-day heart failure readmission due to improved care coordination and discharge planning. In this way, the department concentrates on interprofessional collaboration and strategies of reducing risks after the discharge (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). The fourth departmental priority, concerning learning and development, focuses on staff development in the area of cultural competence and digital health innovation. In the case of the dynamic healthcare environment, the continuous learning investment guarantees the workforce flexibility and enhanced care provision (Vasileiou & Sfakianaki, 2024). The departmental efforts in the area involve well-organized training and professional development modules that are compulsory (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). An aligned strategic plan will allow the department to monitor performance and adjust initiatives on a real-time basis. Appendix B contains a balanced scorecard that summarizes the objectives, metrics, targets, and initiatives.

Formal and Informal Lines of Power

The Cleveland Clinic possesses formal and informal power lines that have a profound impact on the operations, culture, and decision-making processes. Hierarchical chains of command with the board of governors, executive leadership, department chairs, and administrative managers making strategic and operational decisions are part of the formal power structures (Bruni & Kaczur, 2021). Clinical supervisors and care coordinators are positional leaders as well ,with the responsibility of making daily decisions, monitoring performance and enforcing policies in their respective units. There is informal power amongst veteran nurses as well as physicians and support staff, where the reputation and interpersonal relationships can shape peer behavior, team dynamics, and patient care practices (Paynton, 2020). Patients and families also have informal power in online reviews, patient satisfaction surveys, and public reporting systems. They can influence the reputation of the Cleveland Clinic and its Medicare star ratings (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). The power groupings in the Cleveland Clinic indicate a combination of authority, expertise, personal influence, and pressure of external stakeholders.

The power relationships at the Cleveland Clinic have a significant influence on organizational culture, policy implementation, and communication. The formal authority of leadership provides regulatory compliance and strategic objectives and is top-down in policy formulation (Singh et al., 2024). Nonetheless, informal power among frontline caregivers, particularly those with clinical expertise or seniority, is a factor that affects team morale, internal teamwork, and resistance or embracement of change (Paynton, 2020). Inter-departmental and cross-functional communication takes place in the framework of the formal reporting relationship and informal networks of social connections that either promote or inhibit transparency and efficiency (Sheehan, 2021). Abuse of authority may cause a lack of trust, discourage innovation, and cause policy non-compliance or moral distress to personnel (Bruni & Kaczur, 2021). Consequently, a stable system of power, which acknowledges formal authority and informal influence, is needed to foster ethical conduct, unity, and accountability within the whole organization.

• Ethical Dimensions

It is essential to understand the moral aspects of power systems to create a fair and supportive atmosphere. The organization is required to support the American Nurses Code of Ethics, such as autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice to inform the leadership and practice (Varkey, 2021). Autonomy principles help staff and patients make decisions without excessive coercion or pressure from ranks. The beneficence principle endorses the utilization of power to advance well-being and establish a safe, nurturing environment for all stakeholders. The tenets of non-maleficence require that no power should be exercised to harm, intimidate, or silence the staff or patients and should incorporate whistleblower and ethical dissent protections (Cheraghi et al., 2023). Justice demands equal treatment and access to resources at every level and among the stakeholders, and this will assist in creating an inclusive, respectful, and resilient organizational culture.

Conclusion

The cardiology department at the Cleveland Clinic has formulated strategic priorities that capture the institutional objectives and, at the same time, meet departmental requirements in terms of financial sustainability, patient satisfaction, process improvement, and staff development. Also, the policies influence the viability and execution of the priorities through resource distribution and operational limits. Cooperation among stakeholders and appropriate leadership are essential for realizing strategic goals and maintaining organizational integrity. The combination of formal and informal powers makes the organization transparent, motivated, and responsive at every level.

Appendix A: Alignment of Cardiology Departmental Priorities with the Cleveland Clinic’s Strategic Plan

Appendix B: Balance Scorecard

The data for the balanced scorecard of the cardiology department at the Cleveland Clinic, presented in the table below, is sourced from the Cleveland Clinic (2022) and the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (2025).