The Impact of Strategic Planning on Hospital Efficiency: A Case Study

It is necessary to utilize hospital scare resources to meet patients’ unlimited needs. Hospital managers should pay more attention to efficiency. This study aimed to examine the impact of strategic planning on hospital efficiency in 2012-2014. A participatory action research was used in this study. The hospital strategic plan was formulated and implemented. There was a goal and objectives for increasing hospital productivity and efficiency in the strategic plan. Hospital efficiency was measured before and after implementing the strategic plan using bed occupancy (BO), patients’ average length of stay (LOS) in the hospital, bed turnover (BT) and bed turnover interval (BTI) indicators. Data was analyzed using the SPSS software. The hospital BO and BT rates were increased by 16.7% and 25% respectively in 2014 compared to 2011. The average LOS and BTI rates swere reduced by 7.5% and 57% respectively during the same period. The case hospital’s BO and BT rates were respectively 3.2% and 79.8% higher than the average of all Iranian general hospitals’ BO and BT rates. Patient LOS and hospital BTI rate in the case hospital were 57% and 54% lower than the average of these indicators among the country’s general hospitals. Developing an appropriate strategic plan and implementing it properly help to improve hospital efficiency. Adopting and adapting industrial management theories and models could enhance hospitals’ performance. Hospital managers should be trained properly in strategic planning formulation and implementation.