The 5 Essential Pillars of Health Center Business Planning
Are you just copying last year's plan and calling it done? In this comprehensive solo episode, Jill Steeley breaks down the five essential pillars every health center needs in their annual business plan—whether your fiscal year runs January to December or any other cycle. Moving beyond day-to-day firefighting, this episode provides a strategic framework for positioning your health center for success in an ever-changing healthcare landscape.
Key Topics Discussed
Why Business Planning Matters
- Moving beyond day-to-day firefighting to strategic thinking
- How healthcare landscape changes demand annual strategic review
- The difference between compliance planning and strategic planning
- Why copying last year's plan sets you up to merely survive, not thrive
The 5 Essential Pillars
Pillar 1: Financial Sustainability and Revenue Diversification
- Analyzing your revenue streams and dependencies
- The danger of relying too heavily on Medicaid or 330 grant funding
- Grant diversification strategies (federal, state, foundation, corporate)
- Value-based care contracts and quality incentive programs
- Cost optimization without compromising care quality
- Vendor contract renegotiations and supply chain waste reduction
- Why you can't have all your eggs in one basket
Pillar 2: Workforce Planning and Retention
- Why your staff are your number one customers
- Current workforce assessment and turnover analysis
- Recruitment strategies in a competitive market (loan repayment, relocation assistance, clinical rotations)
- The honest truth: retention is cheaper than recruitment
- Professional development as the #1 retention and #2 recruitment strategy
- Creating clear career pathways and mentorship opportunities
- Leadership development pipeline for succession planning
- Addressing healthcare worker burnout and exhaustion
- Technology investments that make staff lives easier
Pillar 3: Service Lines and Community Needs
- Moving beyond "checking the box" on community health needs assessments
- Service line analysis: which are thriving vs. struggling
- Identifying expansion opportunities based on data
- Care integration strategies (medical-dental, behavioral health, specialist coordination)
- Optimizing telehealth strategy and ensuring equitable access
- Population health initiatives with measurable goals
- Strategic vs. reactive service planning
Pillar 4: Quality Improvement and Clinical Outcomes
- Establishing baseline on key quality measures
- Setting realistic but ambitious targets based on UDS benchmarks
- Selecting 2-4 focused quality improvement projects
- Patient safety initiatives and measuring success
- Patient experience beyond clinical outcomes (wait times, convenience, communication)
- Moving beyond HRSA-required measures to what matters to patients
Pillar 5: Infrastructure, Technology, and Facility Planning
- Why facilities matter more than you think for patient attraction
- Comprehensive facility condition assessments
- Space planning for current operations and future expansion
- Technology refresh cycles (internet bandwidth, computers, servers)
- EHR evaluation and replacement considerations
- Cybersecurity as risk management
- Capital investment planning and funding sources
Key Timestamps
- [00:01:00] - Introduction: Moving from day-to-day to strategic...
