Vitas Healthcare Hospice and Palliative Care - Strategic Plan and Presentation

Strategic Plan and Presentation

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

COMPANY OVERVIEW…………………………………………………………………..3

COMPANY STRUCTURE…………………………………………………………………4

ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN………………………………………………………………..5

EXTERNAL FACTORS……………………………………………………………………6

INTERNAL FACTORS…………………………………………………………………….7

STRATEGIES……………………………………………………………………………….8

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN………………………………………………………………9

REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………..13

Company Overview

        Vitas Healthcare Hospice and Palliative Care was founded by Hugh Westbrook, a Methodist minister along with Esther Colliflower, a nurse in 1978 in Miami Florida. Soon after, they met a hospital administrator who shared the same interest in the hospice movement by the name of Don Gaetz. In 1979, the two gentleman collaborated together to secure a hospice licensure in Florida. This would be the first of this kind in any state. During this time, Hugh and Esther were becoming very involved in the hospice movement. Two years later, they were able to expand to Fort Lauderdale which was the first step of the organization’s growth.

The Vitas programs participated in a federal project that demonstrated clinical protocols and procedures for hospice programs across the country. From there, Hugh and Don helped in leading the National Hospice Education Campaign which encouraged Medicare to cover hospice care which was very successful and lead to Congress adding hospice as a Medicare benefit with President Rona Reagan signing the bill into law in 1982. The company offers hospice and palliative care services to patients across the U.S. provided by its doctors, nurses, home health aides, social workers and volunteers. (“Vitas Healthcare”).

As Vitas adapts to the consistently changing health care environment, the company is always guided by their Vitas Values which includes the following:

• Patients and their families always come first
• They take care of each other
• Staff members will do their best today and do even better tomorrow
• They are proud to make a difference

Their mission is to preserve the quality of life for those who have a limited time to live. (“Vitas Healthcare”). The Vitas vision has always been to advocate the rights of terminally ill patients and their families. Vitas currently has offices in at least seventeen states across the globe. The company has achieved great success despite the outside factors that could force changes upon the industry.

Company Structure

        Even though the company is headquartered in Miami, Florida, Vitas currently operates in forty nine hospice programs in sixteen states and the District of Columbia. The company employs eleven thousand seven hundred and seventy three professionals that care for terminally ill patients either in the patients’ homes, nursing homes, assisted living homes, hospitals or in the company’s thirty four inpatient hospice units. The company has what is called an interdisciplinary team which include different types of staff working together to share their expertise, knowledge and skills to impact patient care. This team is involved in the decision making process regarding patient care. Each of the disciplines works cohesively to make sure that their performance remains consistent.

Competition

        The main competitors of Vitas Health Care are American Hospice Management, AseraCare Hospice, Concept Medical Technologies, Inc., Ggnsc Holdings LLC, Amedisys Inc. and Gentiva Health Services, Inc. American Hospice is the oldest hospice management company in the U.S. and one of the largest hospice companies in the country with a reputation for compassionate service excellence. (American Hospice). Aseracare is a part of Golden Living which is one of the nation’s premier providers of post-acute health care. (Aseracare Hospice). Concept Medical Inc. is a research organization that develops innovative and revolutionary medical devices for treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases. (Concept Medical). Each of these companies offers health care services throughout many areas in the United States.  Most of their revenue like Vitas Healthcare is derived from Medicare and they offer services not only through hospices but in the home as well. Finally, they all offer services that are almost identical to one another in their healthcare segment. Vitas stands out from other organizations because they also offer palliative care in addition to their hospice services which treats persons that are suffering with serious and chronic illnesses during or following curative treatment.

Environmental Scan

        The external as well as internal analysis are vital factors for any company’s strategic plan. An assessment of both of these settings gives the company an opportunity to detect how to measure up within the industry. Strategic planning allows the organization to identify the company strengths and weaknesses. Both factors are equally important in this process. Changes have been made within the environment that have had a major impact on the decisions that have been made by the company. The hospice industry has also suffered some changes due to the recent recession.

There are several factors that relate as to if or not patients that are terminally ill will obtain hospice care. These factors include acceptance of the patients’ defined life expectation, referrals to the hospice program, governmental policies and whether or not the programs provide hospice care for terminally ill children. Hospices are influenced by the institutional nature of the hospice industry and are often pressured to conform to the rules, regulations, norms and beliefs about providing end of life care by key shareholders such as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Lindley, 2012).

External Factors

        The remote environment compromises aspects that derives beyond the bounds and usually regardless of any single company’s operational circumstance: 1) economic, 2) social, 3) political, 4) technological and 5) ecological factors. (Pearce, 2013). Each factor also represents an opportunity for advancement. In the healthcare environment, there are two factors that make services different from other organizations. First, many providers are organized as not for profit corporations as opposed to being investor owned and secondly payment for services are typically rendered by third parties rather than the patients that receive the services. (Hon, 2014).

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