 Step-by-Step Guide
Resources
Step-by-Step Guide
How to Create a Plan for Projecting Demand
Abigail Vincent, your supervisor, has asked you to put together a plan for projecting demand for each of the four investment projects Woodland Ridge Hospital is considering.
The following step-by-step will guide you as you do your work.
- Review the email from your supervisor. Make sure you understand what you are being asked to do. Contact your mentor with any questions.
- As a team, decide how you will approach this task. As in previous tasks, you may organize your efforts any ay you choose. You can work together or divide and conquer. Just be sure each team member is clear about his/her role and what s/he needs to accomplish. You may want to review the support materials first, so you understand the process you are being asked to use.
- Review the resources available on the Resources tab for help understanding demand and projection. These resources will give you as sense of what these terms mean and should help you more effectively conduct your own reserach and brainstorm ideas for your plan.
- Conduct Internet research for additional information on demand and projection. Your supervisor has suggested that conducting an Internet search on projection may help you determine the type of information you will need to determine the demand for each of the four investment projects.
- Use a major search engine like Google to conduct your research. You may want to start your search by trying keywords like:
- "Making projections"
- "Projecting demand"
- "Predicting demand"
- Demand and "medical services"
 Tip: Avoid searching for just the term projection. Projection is used in many difference disciplines and may mean different things.
Tip: You may find resources that talk about projection in settings other than healthcare. Your may also find healthcare related articles that discuss making projections on issues other than the demand for treatment. Don’t automatically rule these resources out. Reading examples of projections in other industries or for other types of issues may be very helpful. As you read these articles, look for parallels in your own project. What process for data gathering do the authors suggest? What data do they use in their projection? How can those principles be applied in your own project?
- Brainstorm ideas for projecting demand. The information you gathered as a result of your research should help give you ideas about the kind of information you will need in this project. Use the research you have conducted to help you brainstorm ideas specific to each of the Woodland Ridge proposals. You should think about:
- The type of information you will need. How you will gather the necessary information.
- Think carefully about how you could access the information you need. Are there sources you could consult? People you could talk to?
Tip: Remember the target patients for each proposal are different.
- Write a plan for each proposal based on the work you did in the previous step. Your work should include:
- The type of information you will need and how having that information will help you project demand.
- How you will obtain the necessary information. Be specific if you plan to conduct Internet research describe the data you will need and the sites you think may be able to provide that information. If you plan to talk to people, describe who they are, what information you believe they could provide and what questions you plan to ask.
- Finally, keep in mind that your supervisor has not specified a format, which you should use to present this information. However, she has asked that you organize your plan for each proposal in a clear and concise way. Anyone who reviews your document should be able to understand your plan and easily conduct the necessary research.
- Review your work. Finalize your research plan and be sure that your work represents the efforts of all team members.
- Submit your work. Using the instructions on the Submit your Work tab of this task, submit your work to your mentor.
|
