MMLP3Instrucitons
Milestone 3 has two parts but are combined into one project. In Part A you should discuss the legal structure of your rural hospital (US based) (is it a sole proprietorship, a corporation, a LLC, etc.) and why. Then, in Part B imagine that the bank approved you for the $2,000,000 loan to start your business. Prepare a budget sheet to show how you would use this money. Remember you must think about where your business will be housed, as well as other expenses (owned or rented property, utilities, equipment needs, inventory, supplies, overhead and employees). Thinking about a typical income statement and balance sheet can help guide you identify items you will need to cover in your budget.
FOR REFERENCE ONLY: Below is the SWOT analysis prepared for an earlier assignment. This should help with the creation of the legal structure.
SWOT Analysis and Promotional Strategies
SWOT Analysis
| STRENGTHS | WEAKNESSES |
| · We offer a comprehensive practice of core competencies.
· We have strong community ties and patients keep coming back to the hospital. · We can comfortably treat many types of patients suffering from different problems. · We support our patients through social infrastructure and attend to the less fortunate. |
· Limited funding.
· Limited geographic space. · Lack of multiple types of payments and low reimbursement rate by Medicare. |
| OPPORTUNITIES | THREATS |
| · We can work on better patient retention.
· We can offer preventive services and disease management as alternative treatment methods. · We can create value of our services through evidence based outcomes. |
· Increasing cost of healthcare.
· Severe regulatory changes and restrictions. · May be unable to keep up with technology advancements. |
The above SWOT analysis for the hospital shows the organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses as well as its external opportunities and threats. The analysis provides a safe yet productive setting in evaluating the position of the hospital as well as its future. This way, one gets actionable takeaways and management can set or adjust their goals realistically and plan how to forge forward (Dictionary, 2016). This analysis allows the administration to review their success and identify then work on those areas that need improvement. For instance, the strengths show that the hospital is competent but there is still need to maintain these competencies to avoid being outdone by the rest of the competitors. Healthcare is evolving and the hospital needs continuous realignment for it to continue thriving with these strengths.
On the other hand, there are weaknesses that need to be handled internally. To begin with, with the issue of limited funding, management needs to come up with a way to raise funds by attracting investors. Further, there are opportunities for the hospital to grow and develop. The administration should take advantage of these to create more business (Wheelen, Hunger, Hoffman & Bamford, 2017). For instance, besides majoring in treatment of diseases, the hospital can diversify into preventive services and disease management which will attract more consumers. With the external threats, the administration needs to intervene and mitigate them. For instance, with the issue of increasing healthcare cost, there needs to be cost savings measures such as avoiding duplicating services.
Promotional Strategies
There are a number of promotional strategies that the hospital can employ to communicate to the community and wider market of its services and attract more consumers. To begin with, it could use advertising in newspapers, radio stations and television channels to reach to a wide audience. Further, it could use direct mail or newsletters whereby it directly contacts its consumers and other prospective consumers through emails and communicates its services to them (Armstrong, Adam, Denize & Kotler, 2014). Another method is through telemarketing whereby the hospital reaches individual potential consumers through making telephone calls or sending text messages to them. To reach the online audience, the hospital could embrace the website strategy by creating a website and describing its services and offerings. Additionally, the hospital could give specialty promotional items such as t-shirts with the hospital’s labels, thermometers and some toiletries.
Projected Sales
Over the next one year, the hospital is expected to increase sales by 9%. The outpatient volumes are estimated to rise by 11% while the inpatient are expected to grow by 6.3%. Outpatient surgery is expected to rise by 20% while cardiovascular services are projected to swell by 15%. The total gross revenue is expected to get to $30.40 million with the inpatient services accounting for $14.2 million and outpatient $16.2 million. The net patient revenue is expected to be approximately $13.5 million.
