‘Strategic plan commits CHC to improving standards’

The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. has released its office strategic plan for 2015 to 2020.

CHCC chief executive officer Esther Muña said in an email Sunday afternoon that the strategic plan is a commitment to improving the standards of service and care to the people of the CNMI and those who visit the islands.

“CHCC has made substantial progress in reaching autonomy while ensuring that quality services are provided consistently since the inception of the corporation in 2009,” she said.

The strategic plan involved the efforts of over a hundred staff, managers, community partners, and volunteers in identifying the corporation’s strengths and weaknesses to capture the desired outcomes for its varied healthcare systems on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.

“As the CNMI addresses its socio-economic challenges, including stimulating economic growth, expanding educational opportunities and improving capacity building of our local workforce, CHCC focuses on improving the overall health and wellbeing of its populace,” Muña said.

The strategic plan notes CHCC’s history, vision, values, and mission; pillars of excellence, corporate operational strategies, outcomes, and core healthcare strategies.

For the corporate operational strategies, CHCC has eight operating strategies: reorganizational plan, recruiting and retention plan, code of ethics, facility plan, electronic health record system, consumer satisfaction and community participation plan, financial business plan, and accreditation by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

CHCC planned outcome is for full CMS accreditation, stable financials, full compliance and clean audits, certified and licensed workforce, consumer and community partnerships and satisfaction, and decreased six major causes of death in the CNMI.

Accreditation
CHCC wants the hospital fully accredited by 2015 and maintaining standards in succeeding years. CHCC plans to incur no citations for non-compliance in future CMS survey visits.

Bi-annual review and annual mock surveys will be conducted beginning March 2015 by consultants who are experienced in CMS surveys, developing an action plan to better ensure that subsequent visits are uneventful.

Financial solvency
A comprehensive business plan will be developed this year to include maximum usage of all local and U.S federal funds and identify at least two new funding streams and revenue generating activities.

An assessment of all federal and local contracts will be completed in the first quarter of 2015, with a plan to ensure strict monitoring and compliance of expenditures of all funding, with monthly reports made.

“All funds that are unspent in its respective program year shall have a corrective action plan developed within five days from the end of the project term,” the plan states.

Clean audits, full compliance
An audit committee will be organized this year, consisting of a representative from the office of the chief financial officer, CHCC’s advisory board, and an accountant from the business community who will ensure that proposals are properly announced, received and evaluated for an auditing firm to conduct an annual audit within 90 days from the end of the CHCC fiscal year.
In the first quarter of this year, a monitoring system will be developed that will track the progress of every grant and contract for deliverables and expenditures, which CHCC officials will readily review.

Qualified workforce
This year, licensure and credentialing of key staff positions will be assessed.

Each employee will have a contract and a performance plan developed by the end of 2015 and a wage and salary scale will be completed by the end of first quarter of this year, with plans for annual revisions by June.

Staff will then get recognition of their efforts from their respective supervisor, CEO, and advisory board.

Also included in the strategic plan under core health care strategy is consumer satisfaction and a decrease in major causes of death and debilitation by recording and collecting more accurate date in the event of treating conditions of a patient.

“The goals and objectives outlined in the strategic plan reflect the desired outcomes that CHCC perceives as being critical to address the current state of health of our culturally diverse island population that live [on] the three main islands,” Muña said.