Amara Hospice is a local business providing end-of-life care services in Edinburg, Texas. A management plan incorporating a balanced scorecard has the potential for improving the overall performance of Amara Hospice. A possible plan for Amara is presented below.
Based on the concept of management by objectives, the plan for Amara would focus on financial goals and objectives. According to Lumen (n.d.), organizations have abandoned the use of formal management by objectives plans in the past few decades due to its narrow focus. For Amara, a management by objectives plan would include cutting costs of operations by a given target and increasing revenue by a given target. The approach has been abandoned in favor of the balanced scorecard. The latter takes into consideration other important indicators of performance and is effective in aligning the organization’s goals and objectives with its vision, mission, and strategy.
Management Plan Incorporating a Balanced Scorecard
The balanced scorecard has four related broad elements, namely, customers, learning and growth, internal processes, and financial performance. The management plan translates the vision, mission, and strategy of Amara into goals and objectives. Figure 1 shows the relationships among the four elements and their connection to the vision, mission, and strategy as regards Amara.
Figure 1: Balanced Scorecard Elements
Regarding the customers component, Amara should seek to improve patient satisfaction and retention by focusing on providing high-quality, holistic end-of-life care. A key element of Amara’s vision is to provide an environment and services that cater to the healthcare needs of indigent hospice patients (Amara Hospice, n.d.). A holistic approach to care delivery will help Amara to improve patient satisfaction and retention in a manner that aligns with the mission. A holistic approach considers various issues such as spiritual beliefs, socioeconomic background, and the family of the patient. Amara can tie its goals and objectives involving customers to the vision, mission, and strategy by adopting a holistic approach to patient care.
The goals and objectives regarding learning and growth, which is the second component of the balanced scorecard, revolve around Amara’s commitment to research and innovation, training and development, and the use of informatics to inform decisions. The organization’s vision entails providing the highest level of care and quality of life to help patients to die as comfortably as possible (Amara Hospice, n.d.). Amara should translate this vision into goals and objectives by undertaking relevant research, adopting innovative practices, and using informatics in decision-making. The organization should also provide ongoing training and development programs for its staff to enhance the capacity of the management in making effective decisions.
The third component, internal processes, requires Amara to adopt goals that enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of internal processes. Amara should adopt electronic health records to speed up communication and enhance resource use. This commitment will help in aligning internal processes with the company’s mission of providing end-of-life care to indigent patients. The organization should enhance coordination among the different units that work together to provide care on all levels of the hospice spectrum. The adoption of innovative practices across the spectrum will help the company to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of internal processes.
The fourth component, financial performance, requires Amara to enhance its financial performance. The organization should undertake a more aggressive marketing strategy to improve revenues from donations and service fees. The organization’s financial goals and objectives should seek to enhance its capacity to provide care to a greater number of indigent patients as envisioned in its philosophy.
References
Amara Hospice (n.d.). Amara Hospice. Retrieved from https://amarahospice.com/
Lumen, (n.d.), “From Management by Objectives to the Balanced Scorecard”. Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/principlesmanagement/chapter/6-3-from-management-by-objectives-to-the-balanced-scorecard/