How Regular Strategy Reviews Keep Practices on Track

With 2025 well underway, it’s the perfect time for practice managers to pause and reflect on any strategic planning efforts for the remainder of the year ahead

Developing a solid strategy is one of the most challenging and critical responsibilities a leader has. However, the process doesn’t end once the strategy is set. Regularly reassessing, reevaluating and adjusting your plan is essential for staying on track and ensuring success.

Your practice’s yearly strategic planning is an essential opportunity to establish key goals, define success metrics and outline the actions needed to achieve those objectives. While this initial planning sets the direction, it’s the ongoing evaluations throughout the year that allow healthcare practice managers to assess progress and determine whether adjustments are needed to stay on track.

Here are some key questions you should consider when reassessing your strategy to determine if things are on track – or if adjustments need to be made:

Have the Goalposts Moved?

At the start of your strategy, you likely defined a clear end goal. However, it’s essential to ask: Is this goal still relevant? The healthcare landscape can evolve rapidly, with changes in policies, regulations, patient demographics, or community health needs. Regularly revisiting your end goal ensures your strategy remains aligned with the current context.

If there have been significant changes in the healthcare environment or within your practice – such as shifts in patient demand, staffing levels, or funding – this reassessment provides an opportunity to adapt and redefine what success looks like for the remainder of the year.

What Are the Losses and Wins?

One of the most valuable questions to ask is: What’s working and what’s not? This requires a thorough evaluation of both new initiatives and ongoing strategies within your practice.

What new projects or processes have been introduced this year? Which have delivered positive outcomes, and which have fallen short? For instance, have you recently implemented a new patient management system, and has it improved workflow efficiency or patient satisfaction as expected? Have changes in scheduling or staffing yielded benefits, such as reduced wait times or enhanced team morale?

Similarly, take a close look at ongoing initiatives. Are they still effective, or have they lost their impact over time? By identifying both your successes and shortcomings, you can reinforce what’s working well and shift resources or efforts away from strategies that are no longer delivering the desired results.

Can we Simplify the Vision?

As strategies evolve, they can often become more complex, making it challenging for your team to follow and execute them effectively. For example, a healthcare practice’s goal of improving patient care might begin with straightforward initiatives like reducing wait times and enhancing appointment availability. However, over time, this goal could expand into a more intricate set of actions, such as implementing advanced digital health systems, expanding services, and achieving compliance with new regulations.

While these objectives are commendable, they can become overwhelming for staff, particularly if they lack the necessary resources, training, or guidance to implement such initiatives. To ensure success, it’s vital to simplify your strategy whenever possible, focusing on the most critical goals and ensuring that every team member understands their role.

You’ve Got This

Regularly reassessing and adjusting your strategy is essential for staying on course. With changes in healthcare regulations, advancements in technology, evolving patient demographics and shifting community health needs, it’s important to pause and reflect periodically.

These moments of reflection help ensure your strategy stays in sync with the ever-changing landscape of health, so you can keep moving forward with confidence.