TOWS Matrix Analysis and Strategic Plan: The
Department of Veteran Affairs.
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Part 1: TOWS Matrix
A TOWS analysis allows an organization to ascertain its threats, opportunities, weaknesses, and strengths, which are crucial in coming up with various strategic plans that are crucial in achieving the organization’s vision and mission. TOWS analysis helps an organization identify its strengths and opportunities, which it can use to overcome its weaknesses and threats (Price et al., 2018). This paper aims to conduct a TOWS analysis for the Veteran Affairs Department and use the results to develop a strategic plan.
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Threats
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Opportunities
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Weaknesses
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Strengths
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Analysis
A closer look at the external environment of the Department of Veteran Affairs indicates that the department is facing specific threats. The department is facing intense competition from different healthcare providers across the country. As a result of a spate of poor service delivery, some veterans prefer private and other local healthcare providers and bypass the V.A. The situation has been made worse by the poor marketing strategies to attract more veterans that need healthcare services. According to Randall (2012), the majority of veterans that require healthcare services are not aware of the programs and services offered in different V.A. facilities across the world. In this regard, various healthcare experts have started to question why the department receives vast amounts of money, whereas it does not serve its intended people. The department’s funding has also been decreasing in the recent past as the government has been operating on deficit budgets.
Additionally, the healthcare insurance companies in the country have been putting extra pressure on politicians and policymakers to reduce the amount allocated to the Veteran Department since they want to serve the veterans in different capacities. The insufficient funding of the department has highly impacted service delivery to the veterans (Leung et al., 2018). The failure to fund the department adequately has also affected the technology used for record management. The department has been forced to use outdated technology for record management, making the veterans wait long before receiving services.
Scanning the external environment allows an organization to identify its opportunities to grow and achieve its mission and vision. One of the crucial opportunities the Department of Veteran Affairs can take advantage of is the government’s increased interest in enhanced healthcare services to veterans (Bokhour et al., 2020). Following years of engagement of military personnel in the Middle East, there has been an enhanced interest by the government to ensure the returning veterans receive the best healthcare services. In the recent past, the government has faced numerous criticisms as most veterans were faced with mental health issues. The government has initiated various policies to ensure veterans receive healthcare services effortlessly in efforts to improve service delivery. Through various policy and regulatory interventions, it is now easy for the Veterans Affairs to open up new centers in different states. The local and national governments have intervened through different policies and laws to make it easier to govern VHA. The VHA can, thus, ride on the political goodwill in its governance and management to improve its service delivery across the country and other U.S. territories (Sweeney, 2017). The American population is aging, and, as such, there is a rise in demand for healthcare services in the country. This is a vital opportunity for VHA to expand its healthcare services to eligible veterans. The United States has many older veterans that do not receive healthcare services from V.A., and with effective policies, these people can become V.A. clients. The advent of advanced technology that is crucial in managing healthcare services presents a crucial for V.A. The department has embarked on various technological improvements and is highly regarded for its plans to modernize its HER and its equipment and facilities (Rubinstein, 2018). The technological adoption and improvements will help the organization improve service delivery and cut operation costs. Cutting on operating costs is crucial for the organization as it will have extra resources that can be used to provide essential services to the veterans. The organization can also save money on motivating the staff to offer top-notch or quality services to the clients.
Although the Veteran Department has various strategies that have made the organization effective, it faces different weaknesses. An organization must understand its weaknesses to come up with the requisite mechanisms to overcome them. One of V.A.’s main weaknesses is inadequate or shortage of healthcare providers (Bokhour et al., 2020). Although this is a problem facing various healthcare providers in the country, the organization has an acute shortage of healthcare providers. The shortage has been worse by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic where almost all healthcare facilities have been made to improvise. The shortage of healthcare workers in V.A. has led to overworking available workers (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2019). The staff has been forced to undergo long shifts and extra working hours, leading to exhaustion and poor service delivery. The long working hours have also led to high staff turnover in V.A. facilities as workers seek friendly working conditions. The other weakness facing the organization is poor financial and budgeting techniques.
In the past, V.A. has been accused of misusing funds and prioritizing nonessential activities which do not benefit the veterans. The poor management of funds affects the smooth running of the organization, with some activities that are imperative to the provision of quality healthcare to the veterans (Lane et al., 2021). It also affects the morale of the junior employees in the organization as there is a perception that the problem emanates from the top management. The reputation issues facing the organization have also seen people staying away from V.A. facilities. In other words, V.A. buildings are not appealing to the veterans, and there is a need to revamp their appearance. However, certain conservative former military personnel are not quick to adapt to changes, and they do not see anything wrong with these facilities. In light of this, there is a need to conduct an overhaul of the public image of these facilities to be appealing to the veterans and the public at large. This will help in boosting public confidence in the organization. Another major weakness associated with the organization is lengthy waiting periods for services. In most instances, the Veteran Department is led by former military personnel, where bureaucracy is the order of the day (Speziale, 2015). The lengthy bureaucratic nature of the organization makes various veterans loathe it, and something needs to be done to change it.
Identifying an organization’s strengths is crucial as this is what should be used to overcome the weaknesses and realize the opportunities identified. The Veteran Department has numerous strengths that can be used in revamping the organization to offer high-quality healthcare services to its clients across the country. First, the department has a long-term strategic plan that is elaborate for all the top management and subordinates. This means that it does not matter whether there is a change in the top management as a new head of the department will still implement the existing strategic plan (Lane et al., 2021). Additionally, the strategic plan gives a guideline to the organization on how to use their resources best to achieve the mission and improve service delivery. The department also enjoys a cordial relationship with the defense department as well as other security agencies. It can leverage this to scale its service delivery and its reach to the veterans. Cordial relationship with such departments is essential as the political class will also support the V.A. with the requisite funds and policies to reach as many veterans as possible. The organization also has a formidable supply system with various medical-related firms in the country and abroad (Speziale, 2015). A robust supply system is crucial as it ensures that the department does not lack crucial medical supplies in the country for its clients. The cordial working relationship with pharmaceutical firms ensures that the organization is given priority to the supply of medical-related stuff. A case in point is the supply of coronavirus vaccines where the V.A. was given priority before it was rolled out in the whole country. The firm has also aligned its policies and standards with the guidelines provided by World Health Organization. It ensures that the organization provides top-notch services that are world-class. Aligning the department’s policies and regulations with WHO ensures that the medical supplies and equipment used are certified by the global body and avoid any substandard supplies.
Strategies
The first strategy for V.A. is to make it easy for veterans to choose the organization for easy access, better choices, and clear information for making wise decisions. V.A. needs to improve on its weakness to make it easy for V.A. services to become the priority for veterans. By providing better choices and reducing the time veterans wait to get services, V.A. can become the organization of choice for the majority of the veterans. To achieve this strategy, V.A. will develop interactive relationships with veterans before they are released from active duty. The organization will seek to attract 85 percent of veterans before leaving active duty.
The second strategy is V.A. creates collaborative and integrated delivery networks to improve the veteran wellbeing and independence. This strategy aims to ensure V.A.s performance is above the industry standards in all its businesses. The organization should take advantage of the unique partnerships it has with local and national government agencies to make sure veterans have the best care even when it is outside of V.A (Rubinstein, 2018). Veterans should not view or perceive the services offered by other community-based organizations as better than what the V.A. offers.
The third strategy is V.A. to improve transparency and accountability in funds usage and service delivery to the veterans. This strategy ensures that funds allocated to V.A. are used transparently, and the organization publishes healthcare benchmarks aligned to the private providers. V.A. will use modern accounting and health-related technologies to ensure that the funds allocated are used to improve veteran’s wellbeing. Additionally, the organization will use self-assessments to determine how well veterans are served and satisfied. All employees must also perform assessments regularly for accountability.
The last strategy is V.A. transforms its operations through modernization of systems to offer high-quality services to veterans. The goal is to redesign the business model and operations using the best technological-based solutions for the effective delivery of services to veterans. V.A. facilities across the world will be fitted with the latest modern technology for the adequate serving of the veterans. V.A. will strengthen its telehealth program to reach more veterans in the country and beyond (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2016). The department should also be redesigned to avoid overlaps, fragmentations, and duplications.
References
Bokhour, B. G., Haun, J. N., Hyde, J., Charns, M., & Kligler, B. (2020). Transforming the Veterans Affairs to a whole health system of care: time for action and research. Medical Care, 58(4), 295-300. https://doi.org/10.1097/mlr.0000000000001316
Department of Veterans Affairs. (2019). Department of Veterans Affairs F.Y. 2018-2024 Strategic Plan (refreshed May 31, 2019). Retrieved from https://www.va.gov/oei/docs/va2018-2024strategicplan.pdf
Lane, M. D., Lidie, K. B., Santullo, R. F., & Dalal, S. J. (2021). Enhancing health care in the veteran community through synergistic research funding. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12(1), 138. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.541889
Leung, L. B., Yoon, J., Rubenstein, L. V., Post, E. P., Metzger, M. E., Wells, K. B., ... & Escarce, J. J. (2018). Changing patterns of mental health care use: the role of integrated mental health services in veteran affairs primary care. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 31(1), 38-48. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.20955
Price, R. A., Sloss, E. M., Cefalu, M., Farmer, C. M., & Hussey, P. S. (2018). Comparing the quality of care in Veterans Affairs and non-Veterans Affairs settings. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 33(10), 1631-1638. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-018-4433-7
Randall, M. J. (2012). Gap analysis: transition of health care from Department of Defense to Department of Veterans Affairs. Military medicine, 177(1), 11-16. https://doi.org/10.7205/milmed-d-11-00226
Rubinstein, D., (2018). Industry watch: Healing the V.A. through modernization. Software Development Times, https://sdtimes.com/digx/industry-watch- healing the-va-through-modernization/
Speziale, G. (2015). Strategic management of a healthcare organization: engagement, behavioral indicators, and clinical performance. European Heart Journal Supplements, 17(suppl_A), A3-A7.
Sweeney, E., (2017, September 29). A proposed rule would override state licensing restrictions to expand access to telehealth. Fierce Healthcare, https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/va-telehealth-practice-restrictions-state law- proposed-rule
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, (2016). News release: V.A. announces tele-mental health clinical resource centers during telemedicine association gathering. U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/includes/viewPDF.cfm?id=2789