Research Paper in Kindred Hospital (SWOT Analysis) (Case Study Sample)

Research Paper: Kindred Hospital’s SWOT Analysis Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Research Paper: Kindred Hospital’s SWOT Analysis Kindred Hospital in Houston Texas is an acute long-term care healthcare facility known to offer high-quality care and effective treatment to patients. It is among the leading healthcare organizations in the entire state of Texas and has managed to maintain its prominent position in the healthcare service market for long by meeting the needs of the patients (O'Bryan, 2016). Consequently, the facility has immense opportunities that can make it the best healthcare facility in the country if it can maximize on them. However, it must equally stay vigilant on the weaknesses and threats to ensure they do not affect its current market position. The context provides a comprehensive examination of its SWOT analysis by analyzing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to create a clear understanding of Kindred Hospital's business nature and market situation. Strengths As one of the leading healthcare organizations in Texas, Kindred Hospital has several strengths that enable it to flourish in the market. These strengths do not just help the facility to safeguard the market share in the current market but also help in searching for new markets. The first one is the aspect of richness in highly skilled workforce enhanced by adequate training and learning programs (Battafarano, 2015). The facility invests extensively in training and developing its staff leading to a workforce that is both highly proficient and motivated to give their best on their duties. The reviews of the patients on the organization’s Facebook account and website are sufficient proof of the level of satisfaction patients often experience in the facility. Second, Kindred Hospital includes families in the care for its patients. Before patient treatment commences, the facility involves the family of the patients by requesting them to be around most of the time, to inform them the treatment process, and to follow up their patients’ progress. The facility ensures these family members are motivated by hosting family movie nights through which they watch some thrilling movies and to destruct them from stress caused by the illness of their patients. At the same time, the facility hosts health information days through which it educates the family members about various aspects of health (Kindred Healthcare Inc., 2015). The idea of involving families in the care of the patients has worked effectively for the organization and has proven to be an essential strategy to keep a competitive edge over the facility's competitors. Besides, the facility boasts of good reputation that attracts most patients. Good services offered, integration of highly sophisticated and effective technological equipment and high-quality service by a team of highly skilled and motivated staff enhances customer satisfaction and contributes to the facility's good reputation (VisionPoint Productions, 2010). The status is not just for Kindred in Houston but the entire company that includes 300 long-term acute care hospitals and nursing centers distributed in at least 27 states in the US because the organizational culture, training, and supportive services are the same in all these facilities (O'Bryan, 2016). Other strengths include strong brand portfolio, cost-effectiveness, good returns on capital expenditures, geographical or superior locational advantage, high level of patient satisfaction, reliable connection with the community, and provision of delicious and nutritious meals to patients among others. Weaknesses Just like any other organization, Kindred Hospital in Houston has some flaws that needs to be looked into and transformed to strengths. First, the facility enjoys limited success outside its primary business as it has struggled to incorporate other segments due to its present culture. Second, as Battafarano (2015) mentions, despite the facility boasts of having a highly skilled workforce that enhances patient satisfaction, the staff are limited especially the nurses. Even though this is a common issue in the country where the majority of the healthcare facilities have a shortage of nurses, Kindred Hospital needs to find ways to address this problem to acquire a stronger competitive advantage over its competitors. Besides, the facility still experiences challenges associated with patient falls, slow response to alarm bells, and negative attitude associated with some of the staff. The management should look into these issues and address them promptly to prevent them from damaging the reputation of the facility. Opportunities Presently, Kindred Healthcare Inc. has 300 facilities and the huge returns on investment witnessed at the Houston facility, and the rest gives it the opportunity to expand further and e...