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Katelyn Strasser
SWOT Analysis
MPH 548
Internal
External
SWOT Analysis Outpatient/GI Department
Helpful
Strengths:
 Offer specialized procedures that
no other facilities in the state
perform
 Physical layout of unit is
conducive for efficient care
 Department has gone through
process excellence (LEAN)
 All nurses have ACLS and
conscious sedation competency
Harmful
Weaknesses:
 Low satisfaction scores on
supervisor survey
 High employee turnover
 Dated equipment
 Location within hospital is not
ideal for patient safety and
privacy
Opportunities:
 Market to other doctors that
don’t currently use facility
 Increase patient awareness for
services we provide
 Endoscopy certification for
nurses
 Perform new procedures
Threats:
 Competition from three other
hospitals in the same city.
 Current issue of Measure 17
 Loss of revenue from out-ofnetwork patients
 Second GI endoscopy center
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I decided to conduct a SWOT analysis of my department, which is the Outpatient/GI Services Unit at Avera McKennan
Hospital. The first strength of this department is that it offers a wide array of procedures from endoscopy, colonoscopy,
bronchoscopy, bone marrow biopsy, and other specialized procedures such as the endoscopic bronchial ultrasound procedure,
esophageal ablation, overstitch, and esophageal motility procedure. Also, the unit was recently remodeled and the way that it
is configured allows the patient to travel from admitting, to the procedure, and to recovery in a small circle. Patient’s families
and friends easily navigate through the department as well. Other strengths are that the department has gone through process
excellence to make the department more efficient, and all nurses have proper Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
certification and conscious sedation training.
The first internal weakness is that many employees are not satisfied with our supervisor, and gave her low ratings on
her last review. One major complaint from staff was that after being in the unit for a year, our supervisor had still not been
trained on the procedures that we do every day. Many times she would make decisions about procedures that she didn’t have
experience performing. This, along with other issues, has contributed to high employee turnover in this unit. In one year, six
out of thirteen employees have either been fired or left on their own. Another weakness is dated equipment. Right now we
are in need of new scopes. The ones that we have keep breaking and are costing the department a lot of money to be fixed.
Finally, our location within the hospital is a weakness because it is not where other procedural areas are. If a patient from our
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unit needs to be transferred to the operating room or ICU, employees must take them up one or two floors and down a
hallway. This is not safe and is also not private for the patient.
Opportunities that my department has are marketing to both doctors and patients in order to increase business. Many
doctors in this city have practicing privileges at multiple facilities. It would be advantageous to reach out to these doctors and
let them know what types of procedures we offer. We could also start doing new procedures that would attract more doctors
and patients. Another opportunity is for our nurses to earn and maintain endoscopy certification. This is a way for nurses to
show superior skill in this area.
One of the largest threats to our business is the threat of losing patient business to other facilities. Three other facilities
in this city also perform many of the same procedures. Our same hospital also has another GI lab where colonoscopies and
endoscopies are performed. Our two units used to be one unit, but the gastroenterologist and surgeons couldn’t work
together. The solution was for our unit to keep working with surgeons, and the other unit moved to make a separate suite for
the gastroenterologists. Another threat to our business is that some patients are not within our facility’s provider network,
and cannot afford to have their procedure at our facility. Along with this same idea is the current issue of Initiated Measure
17. The measure will be on the ballot next Tuesday. A “yes” vote for the measure means that people will be able to choose
which health provider they see. A vote “no” means that people will still be kept to seeing a certain list of providers unless they
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want to pay more for someone outside the preferred network. If the measure passes, it could be a threat because some
employees covered by Avera insurance may choose to have procedures at a different facility. However, this could also be an
opportunity because people who traditionally could not see providers at our facility would now be able to.