Wichita County Health Center Strategic Planning Case Solution

A number of factors are contributing to this worsening financial position and profitability of Wichita County Health Center ranging from changes in the external environment to internal shortcomings of Wichita Health Center.

2. Analysis of external factors

The PEST Framework can be applied to analyze the external environment Wichita Health Centre operates in and the opportunities and threats this environment presents for Wichita how these factors are contributing to the problem faced by Wichita.

i. Political

Wichita County Health Center is affected by the political stability, tariff regulations, tax policies, and spending habits of the government of Kansas. Rural medicine has had a strong support from the state capital.

Federal funds had traditionally supported the construction and modernization of rural hospitals, under the 1946 Hospital Survey and Construction Act. However, Kansas legislators had decided not to expand Medicaid coverage under the 2010Affordable Care Act and in the recent federal budgets of 2013 and 2014, there has been criticism on Medicare funds which reimbursed critical access hospitals. Since Wichita Health Centre relies on these funds to cover its operating losses this could negatively impact the financial position of Wichita.

ii. Economic

The median household income in the county was US$57,2661with 10 percent of the total population falling below the poverty line, which means that less people can afford private health care and the service offered by Wichita County Health Center.

The coverage gap has been widening as some people were too poor to be able to afford private coverage but earned too much to receive KanCare, the state-managed program that administered Medicaid. Moreover, according to recent Census data, 13.4 percent of Wichita County residents lacked health insurance. This is a matter of concern for Wichita County Health Center as it already faces low patient volumes and most of its patients cannot afford health care without insurance.

iii. Social

University of Kansas School of Medicine led to access to a pool of skilled talent for Wichita however Wichita Health Centre struggled with attracting and retaining full-time medical staff, especially certified nursing assistants from rural Kansas.

Kansa has witnessed a demographic shift that started in the 1990s, the county is 70 percent Caucasian and 28 percent Hispanic or Latino (‘State and County Quick Facts’, 2016). This shift is likely to bring about change in the pattern of patients of Wichita Country Health Centre. Immigrants were preferring self-medication over visiting hospitals to see doctors and families choose to provide care to the elderly at home without the advice or support of health care experts. This was further leading to a decline in patients visits at Wichita County Health Center.