(Dec. 13, 2024) – We are excited to share the 2025-2027 KHA Strategic Plan with Kansas Hospital Association members. This plan is the culmination of many conversations and meetings during the last year with KHA members, the KHA Board of Directors and your KHA staff team to ensure the work your association is focusing on is what is most important to you, our members.
KHA staff had a strategic planning session in early 2024 and gained direction from KHA members during Spring District Meetings. This work was incorporated into a draft strategic plan the KHA Board of Directors fine-tuned during a strategic planning session at their meeting in late May. The KHA team created a 2025-2027 draft strategic plan from those meetings and conversations and shared it with members during Fall District Meetings. We received insightful feedback and recommendations from members during Fall District Meetings that were incorporated into the final strategic plan reviewed and approved by the KHA Board at their November meeting.
I want to mention a few updates to our new strategic plan compared to the 2022-2024 plan. As part of our process, we also asked members and staff to review the KHA vision, mission and values. As a result of the feedback received from our members, KHA's vision has been updated from "Optimal health for Kansans" to "Optimal health for Kansans and Kansas hospitals." Our feedback from members is that you can't have healthy communities without Kansas hospitals, so our Vision has been updated to reflect this ideal. KHA's mission, "To be the leading advocate and resource for members," was unanimously supported by members and staff, so the mission remains unchanged. There have been a few updates made to the values: 'Collaboration' has been added as a value to reinforce the work that KHA does building and fostering partnerships, and 'Innovation' has been incorporated into the 'Knowledge' value to demonstrate that KHA will continue to focus on gaining and sharing knowledge regarding technology, innovation and emerging trends to assist KHA members.
In a prior column, I shared the fantastic work our members have done related to KHA's strategic aim to "Improve Kansas' statewide health ranking with a focus on preventive health services." This work, such as improving cancer screening rates, increasing immunization rates and partnering on community health improvement is making a difference. According to America's Health Rankings, Kansas ranks 29th in health outcomes compared to 31st in 2021. As a result, the KHA Board of Directors recommended keeping the strategic aim in the 2025-2027 Strategic Plan so KHA can continue to build up and foster improved health in our state, which supports KHA's overall vision.
You may notice four strategic priorities in the 2025-2027 Strategic Plan compared to six in the 2022-2024 Strategic Plan. These four priorities include advocacy and regulations, finance and reimbursement, health care workforce, and quality and safety. While there are fewer priority categories, it is important to note that other priorities, such as emerging technologies and member engagement, have been folded into one of the four priorities for our 2025-2027 strategic plan. The KHA Board of Directors felt it was essential to streamline and simplify the KHA strategic plan to show that the members' top issues match KHA's.
Your KHA team will continue to work tirelessly to support our members and their diverse needs. We appreciate and value your feedback on creating the new strategic plan for 2025-2027. Thank you!
--Chad Austin