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Planning and Measuring Performance Essay Planning and Measuring Performance Planning and Measuring Performance This paper will discuss Hospital Corporation of America’s (HCA) goals of achieving industry-leading performance in clinical and satisfaction measures and recruiting and employing physicians to meet the need for high quality health services (University of Oregon Investment Group, 2011). This paper will also discuss which tools would be most effective in measuring the organization’s performance against the determined standards. The actual standards that HCA would use to measure the first goal of achieving industry-leading performance in clinical and satisfaction measures are set by The Joint Commission. According to Kicab Casta eda-Mendez (1999), achieving improved clinical performance and satisfaction measures requires performance measures in three areas: * To lead the entire organization in a particular direction. * To manage the resources needed to travel in this direction. * To operate the processes that make the organization work. According to Kicab Casta eda-Mendez (1999), these measures are: * Strategicto drive strategies into action and change the organizational culture. * Diagnosticto evaluate the effectiveness of these actions and the extent of change. * Operationalto improve continuously. The most effective tool to measure these improvements is benchmarking. Benchmarking against the top healthcare companies will determine if HCA is achieving industry-leading performance in clinical and satisfaction measures. Without benchmarking HCA could not determine if the company was leading the industry or if they were at the bottom of organizational ladder. HCA’s goal of hiring physicians to meet the need for high quality health services can be measured by determining the number of physicians need to accommodate the number of patients, determining the specialties/ sub-specialties the physicians are needed in, as well as measuring the retention rate of the physicians. The Balanced Scorecard would best fit this goal. The Balanced Scorecard allows the company to see the projected percentages and the actual percentages of the measurements. It also helps the company see what needs to be changed and gives direction for those changes. HCA can use benchmarking and the Balanced Scorecard to measure the different aspects of their goals. HCA will also be able to see the areas that need improvement and have some guidance into making these changes. With these tools HCA will be able to make an effective go at achieving their goals. References University of Oregon Investment Group (May 6, 2011). Hospital Corporation of America. Retrieved from http://uoinvestmentgroup. org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/HCA. pdf Casta eda-Mendez (1999). Performance Measurement in Healthcare. Retrieved from http://www. qualitydigest. com/may99/html/body_health. html