| Plexus Consulting Group | Success Stories | ||
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Nat'l Association of Healthcare Access Management |
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The Situation The National Association of Healthcare Access Management (NAHAM) is the only national professional organization dedicated to promoting excellence in the management of patient access services in all areas of the healthcare delivery system. NAHAM membership offers benefits in patient admissions, registration, finance, guest relations, and other related services. In recent years, the hospital industry has experienced a series of mergers resulting to confusion in the market and a significant decrease in NAHAM membership. In addition, the leadership detected a lack of interest in certification programs and a strong interest in educational opportunities sponsored by the association. Moreover, the association wanted to explore the possibility of forming strategic alliances with other organizations in the field. Determined to address these issues, the leadership of the association decided to evaluate the association and its goals by conducting a survey in order to collect useful information on membership satisfaction regarding current NAHAM services. The survey would also identify membership trends as those related to the development of local/regional educational opportunities by NAHAM and other issues of interest. Furthermore, the association leadership retained Plexus Consulting to analyze the survey results and facilitate a two-day strategic planning retreat attended by the association's Board of Directors. Action The Plexus Consulting facilitators presented the survey results before the Board of Directors and focused on certain issues of concern as these arose from the analysis of the survey. Particularly, the presentation focused on the lack of interest in NAHAM's certification program, the members' price/location/travel sensitivities - and how these may affect their interest in educational opportunities - and finally, the limited interaction between the members and the National Office and the Board of Directors. Having addressed these key issues, the Plexus Consulting team proceeded in assisting the board in the identification of the association's internal (strengths ö weaknesses) and external environments (opportunities ö threats). Then the Board reached a consensus regarding the association's vision and mission statement and continued in outlining NAHAM's principles and goals. The second day of the strategic planning session was devoted to prioritizing the association's strategic objectives and developing a business plan to implement them. Finally, the leadership concluded the session by discussing organizational and other operational issues. Results The strategic planning session facilitated by the Plexus Consulting team was a pivotal factor in addressing key membership and association service issues. Based on the identification of these issues, NAHAM's Board of Directors constructed a sophisticated business plan that outlines numerous tasks aiming to achieve the following:
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