Call in the SWOT Team: SWOT Analysis in Radiology

Transcription

1 Call in the SWOT Team: SWOT Analysis in Radiology

2 David Sadowsky, MD Daniel Kadosh, MD Aneesa Gaffar, MD Tariq Rashid, MD Edward Esses, MD Chaitanya Shilagani, MD Yachao Zhang, MD Perry Gerard, MD, MBA, FACR Department of Radiology Westchester Medical Center Valhalla, NY None of the authors of this presentation, nor any of their immediate family members, have a financial relationship with a commercial organization that may have a direct or indirect interest in the content.

3 INTRODUCTION Radiology groups must be managed effectively to ensure financial stability and provide proper clinical services The climate of constantly shifting regulations and reimbursement in medicine adds additional difficulty to this task The leaders of radiology groups are often physicians with no formal business decision-making training, a deficiency that may result in unstructured planning and suboptimal financial and clinical outcomes

4 INTRODUCTION Many strategic planning tools that have been developed in the corporate world can be applied to medicine In this presentation we introduce and apply SWOT analysis, one of these tools, to example scenarios in radiology More broadly, we aim to demonstrate the benefits of utilizing a structured approach to management

5 What is SWOT? SWOT stands for the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats relevant to a decision under evaluation These factors are placed into a 2x2 table:

6 Using the SWOT Table The first row (SW) represents internal factors over which a manager is more likely to have control The second row (OT) represents external factors that a manager may be forced to respond to The first column (SO) includes positive factors The second column (WT) includes negative factors

7 How to Use SWOT? Combinations of categories can be assessed to identify beneficial strategies: SO: Strategically select opportunities to pursue that match an organization s strengths ST: Construct defensive approaches that leverage strengths to reduce risk posed by external threats WO: Prioritize addressing weaknesses that limit an organization from taking advantage of available opportunities WT: Identify critical threats that could lead to devastating harm

8 When to Use SWOT? SWOT tables may be constructed both for specific problems/decisions and for general assessment of the present state of a group

9 Example 1: State of a Department High-yield management strategies become apparent: 1. Highlight new equipment in hospital advertising campaign (SO) 2. Utilize customer service capabilities to help patients obtain approval for imaging studies declined by insurance (ST) STRENGTHS Fellowship-trained radiologists New equipment Effective customer service protocols OPPORTUNITIES Increasing local population New hospital advertising campaign Increasing hospital system size WEAKNESSES Slow turnaround time Lack of 24-hour staffing THREATS Expansion of local private practice competitor Declining quality of local health insurance plans

10 Example 2: Slow Turnaround Time High-yield management strategies become apparent: 1. Identify the critical threat of losing all night/weekend business to faster competitor (WT) 2. Hire more general radiologists to ensure fast emergency reads (WO), taking advantage of ability to offer competitive pay (SO) STRENGTHS Modern PACS and electronic health record Competitive pay OPPORTUNITIES High ER/Urgent Care volume WEAKNESSES Limited night and weekend coverage Few general radiologists THREATS Competitor with faster turnaround time Declining reimbursement

11 CONCLUSION Though developed for use in corporate management, structured strategic tools like SWOT analysis can be easily applied to radiology to help optimize decision-making Radiologists in both academic and private leadership positions should consider employing a structured approach to management, if not in place already

12 CORRESPONDENCE For questions or further information please contact: Dr. Perry Gerard, MD, MBA, FACR New York Medical College Westchester Medical Center Valhalla, NY