Why Strategy Matters Now

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 372; no. 18; pp. 1681 - 1684
• Main Authors: Porter, Michael E, Lee, Thomas H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Massachusetts Medical Society 30-04-2015
• Subjects: Costs; Customer services; Delivery of Health Care - economics; Delivery of Health Care - organization & administration; Economic Competition - organization & administration; Health care; Health care industry; Organizational Objectives; Strategic planning; Success; United States; United States
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1502419

In a changing environment, health care organizations need to rethink the meaning of strategy and make the choices necessary to distinguish themselves in meeting customers' needs. Those choices revolve around six key questions, beginning with “What is our goal?”
Until recently, most health care organizations could get by without a real strategy, as most businesses understand that term. They didn't need to worry about how to be different or make painful decisions about what not to do. As long as patients came in the door, they did fine, since fee-for-service contracts covered their costs and a little more.
Success came from operational effectiveness: working hard, embracing best practices, and burnishing reputations that attracted both patients and talent. Virtually every provider was included in most payers' networks, and patients could generally seek care wherever they pleased at modest or no . . .