News Releases

The Center’s Strategic Direction Established for 2014-2016

For several months, planning has been underway to establish The Center’s strategic direction for 2014 through 2016. The plan, presented to The Center for Health Affairs board on Sept. 19, was approved and will serve as a blueprint for the association’s work from 2014-2016.

The process was shaped by the input from five strategic direction focus groups, each assigned to one of five broad categories mirroring The Center’s areas of specialty: data & information; workforce; policy & economic development; quality, safety & patient experience, and community programs. Focus group members were selected from The Center’s boards, as well as the boards of its affiliated organizations. In addition, some non-board members with special expertise in various program areas were also asked to participate.

The Center’s strategic direction will be grouped into the five areas of specialty mentioned above. Many of The Center’s on-going projects will continue as they have in the past, though the new strategic direction also adds a number of new programs. A selection of The Center’s strategic direction initiatives are highlighted below.

Data & Information

• The Volume Statistics program will continue but the technology platform will be updated. A Volume Statistics Advisory Committee will be regularly convened to provide input on potential improvements and additional or refined data elements.
• A price transparency initiative with the aim of educating the media, lawmakers and community leaders about hospital pricing will be undertaken.

Workforce

• Career shadowing and clinical placement activities will continue.
• The NEONI PERQS Center will execute the strategic work plans of each division (for example, the research division will seek grants to establish its proprietary database).
• The Nursing Forecaster for Northeast Ohio will be updated as new data becomes available.

Policy & Economic Development

• Many existing activities will continue such as wage index, regional economic impact study and public policy research.
• A renewed focus on local-level advocacy will be established, with The Center routinely representing its members’ interests to local public officials.
• The Advocacy Forum will be re-invented as a means of regularly convening government relations professionals from the membership.

Quality, Safety & Patient Experience

• Patient experience initiatives will be added to this section of the strategic plan, which previously only focused on quality and safety. Initiatives to provide strategies to improve hospitals’ HCAHPS scores and to promote patient navigation are examples.
• Through the PERQS Center, The Center will work to support and disseminate nursing core competencies to hospitals and academic nursing leaders.
• The Center will promote quality and safety by working with OHA on initiatives that align with Northeast Ohio hospitals’ quality and safety programming.

Community Programs

• The Center will continue to serve as the Northeast Ohio regional coordinator for emergency preparedness.
• Community health needs assessments will continue as a strategic initiative. In addition, The Center will establish an implementation committee to encourage collaboration among stakeholders and to promote joint efforts to address the unmet health needs identified in the CHNAs. 
• The activities of the Behavioral Health Round Table will continue and several new initiatives will be added including the collection of behavioral health metrics. A regional Behavioral Health Round Table will also be implemented.

The focus group strategic direction summary documents were included as part of the board’s meeting materials and  provide additional detail on the specific projects that will be part of The Center’s strategic direction. Additional materials, including complete descriptions of each initiative and deliverables, are forthcoming. For questions or additional information on The Center’s strategic direction, please contact Deanna Moore at 216.255.3614 or via email or Lisa Anderson at 216.255-3660 or via email.