Consider the steps involved in creating a work of art: The artist paints a few strokes, then steps back to examine her work, then steps up to the canvas again to adjust the color. And so it goes, until she gets the desired result.

The process of creating a useful plan is much the same. It isn’t an exact science by any means and it requires dedication and patience to achieve good outcomes. But two Corporate Health Group (CHG) clients have found that staying flexible and paying attention to the details are keys to making a plan that can grow with the organization. Here, they share some of their experiences and tips for others embarking on a plan:

Bon Secours Hampton Roads (VA) Health System, Inc.

Bon Secours has had an occupational health program in place for more than a dozen years. The organization has been highly recognized by the health system for managing disability costs for their own employees. Recently, they created a plan to replicate that success by providing area employers the same value and benefits enjoyed internally.

To prove to Leadership that the team was up for the challenge, Stephanie Lloyd, Vice President, Employer/Physician Services, first initiated an intensive information-gathering project. The team conducted internal research, interviewing Leadership to understand their perceptions of the existing program. They also looked at geography and did a competitive analysis of available programs in the community. Meantime, CHG helped gathered input from external sources, including payers and employers.

With this data, Lloyd was able to flesh out the business plan, providing detailed background and research in key areas. Focused on strategic targets, the work team built financial models for the occupational health business, new markets and products and downstream revenue to the system.

Creating the plan was a big endeavor—and unlike any Lloyd had ever embarked on. And though it was an intensive learning process, the detailed work is paying off. The program’s expansion was approved and is now part of the system’s strategic initiatives.

“I’ve never done a business plan with this much thoroughness,” Lloyd comments. “The format we created provided us with a road map for implementation, based on the comprehensive content and research the team performed. Next, we’ll move forward with product development and service enhancement.”

Lloyd cites an additional benefit of the plan: “We knew where we wanted to go, but the plan allowed us to provide data to highlight where the opportunities were. This is the kind of information you need to show your executives so they can see where the value is for your system to make it all worthwhile.”

St. Joseph Hospital, Nashua, NH

When charged with developing a new internal medicine practice in the market and finding a director-level candidate, Julie Eberhart knew a streamlined recruiting process would be a priority. Among the first things Eberhart, VP for Strategic Planning and Marketing, incorporated into the plan was an internal recruiting team.

“We focused on a multidisciplinary approach, making sure we had representation by physicians, executives and board members,” Eberthart says. “We developed a team we knew would make a commitment to being available to talk with candidates and who were very familiar with the practice opportunity.”

This streamlined approach allowed Eberhart and her colleagues to be able to focus on other aspects of recruiting, in collaboration with CHG. These tasks included conducting competitive market research, evaluating the internal medicine versus family practice ratio of physicians, verifying and cleaning a database of prospects, conducting competitive market research and adjusting its compensation package.

The process wasn’t without its bumps in the road, Eberhart acknowledges, but these were necessary steps. “We’ve tweaked our practice opportunity several times due to feedback we were getting, often from the CHG folks who were shopping this opportunity. But you have to be fluid, to continue to get input and adjust the way you think about the practice.”

Did finessing the positions pose a challenge to the team? “Well, you wish at some point you could stop,” Eberhart laughs. “But it’s like anything else. You need to keep at it. Above all, to be a good administrator, I’ve been compelled to make sure I’ve done all the homework and revisit the plan to make sure it still makes sense.”

Developing a living, breathing plan has yielded a well thought-out and focused recruiting model—one that will serve the organization well, not only for immediate searches for but others yet to come.

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