Is It Too Late to Plan for FY23?

As a Medical Center Administrator, you are easily consumed with the many demands of day-to-day operations.

Add a disruptive event such as the COVID-19 pandemic into the mix and you can quickly become overwhelmed by emerging issues, shifting priorities, staff needs, safety concerns, site visits, and other daily management demands.

Even in the most challenging times, usually measured in months, not years, Medical Centers must sustain a basic rhythm of planning and executing toward long-term goals, strategies, and priorities.

With the demands of day-to-day operations in mind, is it too late to start thinking about FY23?

⇒ On one hand, FY22 is quickly coming to an end and there is much work yet to be done with annual analysis and reporting.

⇒ On the other hand, FY23 is a mere month away. We can anticipate that FY23 will bring unique opportunities and challenges influenced by variables as wide ranging as economic conditions, new strategic initiatives, public health concerns, and global conflict.

Certainly, FY23 has the potential to present financial and budgetary challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on medical centers is still present. Currently, CIOs are applying lessons learned to how they approach short-term and long-term planning.The ability to adapt, adopt new technologies, and identify what is and is not working has become more important than ever. The past and current challenges highlight that ongoing plans are continuously evolving and need to be resilient in meeting organizational goals.

Even if you already planned for FY23, here are ten thought provoking questions to assist you in formulating your planning approach:

What types of planning are most important for your Station? Is true Strategic Planning necessary or is a purely tactical approach more appropriate?
Who from your Station should participate in planning? Will Service Chiefs be given a role/voice? What other external stakeholders must be involved?
What is your planning philosophy about employing a “centralized” or “decentralized” approach?
What inputs and data will be needed to inform your planning?
What specific results do you expect from your planning efforts? Do you intend to generate a written plan with formal goals and measurable outcomes? Or is a simple list of initiatives and projects sufficient?
What milestones do you expect in your planning process? Do you have a timeline for completion of your planning efforts?
When/how does financial analysis and budgeting fit into the picture? How can you best integrate strategic, operational, and financial planning?
Where does FTEE fit into your planning methodology? To what degree can you achieve strategic hiring plans?
What opportunities are there to streamline and optimize your planning efforts?
Once your planning is complete, how will you track execution and adjust as needed?

Let Unison 4Cast help you find the right answers to your questions about the best way to prepare for FY23

Drawing on decades of cumulative experiences serving as a partner to VAMCs, 4Cast offer best practices, an extra set of hands, and modern planning solutions to optimize your planning approach. Our 4Cast solution currently utilized by thousands of VA employees, is a modern, web-based solution designed to link strategic, operational, and budgetary planning together in unique and meaningful ways. Link strategic, operational, and budgetary planning together in unique and meaningful ways.