Strategic Planning Initiation at Kpco

Smith 1

Annalise Smith

7 Feb. 2016

XHAD 6462 – Healthcare Strategic Management

Prof. Kaissi

Smith 2

Initiating the Strategic Planning Process at Kaiser Permanente Colorado

Kaiser Permanente Colorado (KPCO) is an accountable care organization that provides

comprehensive health services to more than 625,000 members through an integrated system of

physicians across 29 medical office buildings and a network of affiliated hospitals. Through a

variety of partnerships, programs, and collaborative efforts, KPCO aims to meet our members

where they are and to improve the health and vitality of the communities we serve. As a member

of the Business Operations Support Services (BOSS) team, I work to advance KP’s mission and

vision in two capacities. As a project manager I lead all Nursing Services and Women’s Health

initiatives in the Denver/Boulder area, and as a program manager I oversee all infrastructural

consolidation and optimization initiatives across the region. For a better understanding of the

difference between program management and project management, refer to Appendix A. As

project and program managers’ primarily function first, to maximize quality outcomes, and

second, to minimize risk and/or waste, strategic management plays an important role in my dayto-day work.

KPCO’s strategic model integrates analytic and emergent approaches to direct

organizational action (Appendix B). This model provides the structure necessary to initiate and

sustain projects, programs, and strategies that move the organization toward its envisioned

future. It balances the three foundational elements that Ginter, Duncan, and Swayne define as

the major components of strategic management: strategic thinking, strategic planning, and

managing strategic momentum (12). While members of our Strategic Management (SM) team

help to facilitate strategic thinking and guide strategic decision making, Executive Strategy

Execution Teams (ESETs) serve as the governing...