The Role Vision Plays in Your Strategic Planning Process
The Role Vision Plays in Your Strategic Planning Process
Length: 1.5 hours
Target Audience: CEOs, COOs, CNOs, CMOs, Chief Strategy Officers, Senior-
Level Executives, Directors, and Consultants
Description: Prior to the advent of the Affordable Care Act, the majority of
healthcare leaders had the luxury of a virtually unchanging
vision for their organization (where they were going and what
they wanted to become). Their visions were typically hospital-
based, simple and clearly understood by all in the
organization. For many, each cycle of strategic planning was
simply one of refreshing the plan for the upcoming cycle
against the backdrop of that static vision for the future – as
straightforward as, “What are we going to do this coming
year?”
Over the past several years, those clear, unchanging,
hospital-based visions have become less relevant to the
changing marketplace, driving a need to examine and in most
cases completely refresh and redefine the future. Many
haven’t addressed this need. Many that have attempted it
have struggled.
Participants will leave this session with an appreciation for the
effort necessary to develop and articulate a new, meaningful,
useful, communicable, and most importantly achievable vision
for their organizations.
Faculty: Each session should feature a moderator plus two to three
panelists.
Moderator: The moderator should be a hospital or healthcare
system CEO, Chief Strategy Officer or other senior level
healthcare executive, with direct experience in successfully
developing, implementing and leading an organization’s
vision/strategy.
Panelists:
- Harrison Burns, Chief Strategy Officer, Children’s Wisconsin
- Mike Ryczkowski, Vice President of Strategy, South Region, Froedtert ThedaCare
Interactivity: All sessions must feature a minimum of 10 minutes of dedicated
audience Q&A time at the end of the session. Additional small-
group breakouts or discussions are optional but encouraged.
Presentation: An optional presentation template has been included for use if the
Chapter sees fit. If used, the presentation should include required
slides as designated in the template, and no more than 3
additional content slides.
Questions for Discussion:
• In the ever-changing healthcare environment does it make sense to have a long-
term vision/strategy?
• Many leadership teams struggle with looking out beyond the current year. What
are the barriers to shaping a longer-term vision/strategy?
• How often should this vision be updated?
• How have you gone about developing a new vision for your organization? What
form is it? (For example, a short, simple statement or a more comprehensive
positioning statement/document)
• Given that the need to develop a new vision is driven by the change in market
needs, how have you captured that and what did you learn?
• How different is your new vision from what it once was?
• What is an effective way to communicate clearly to staff about how an
organization is planning to position itself for success?
• How did the staff respond to the course correction?
• What went well? What was difficult for leadership? For front-line staff?
• Did it require different leadership thinking or even different leadership?
• How have the boards of trustees responded and adapted to the course -
corrections?
• How will healthcare organizations remain nimble and balance the need for a
long-term vision with the tactical changes required today?
Materials for Distribution:
Knecht, P.R. “Increasing the Board’s Strategic Dialogue.” Healthcare Executive,
(January/February 2022).
Squazzo, J. “Have You Future Proofed Your Organization?” Healthcare Executive,
(January/February 2022).
Updated 01/2026
Additional Resources:
https://www.aamc.org/career-development/affinity-groups/gip/strategic-planning
https://www.ache.org/learning-center/publications/books/2337i
https://www.ache.org/blog/2026/10-strategic-priorities-for-healthcare-leaders-in-2026
