A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool used to identify and evaluate the internal Strengths and Weaknesses of an organization, as well as the external Opportunities and Threats it faces. This tool is widely used by successful organizations, including patient advocacy groups, during their strategic planning process. A SWOT analysis can seem daunting, especially for individuals who have never conducted one. To address this, we have broken it down into its parts. Last, we discussed the internal factors only (i.e., Strengths and Weaknesses). This week, we will focus on external factors (Opportunities and Threats)
At its core, a SWOT analysis differentiates between factors that are within the group’s control and those that are not (internal vs. external factors, respectively) and to identify if a factor is helpful or potentially harmful to the organization.
Opportunities
Opportunities are external factors that an organization can capitalize on to achieve its goals. These can include environmental changes, market trends, technological advancements, social shifts, or other external factors that an organization can use to its advantage.
Examples of Opportunities that a patient advocacy group could include:
- Legislative changes.
- Context: evolving healthcare legislation may create opportunities for the patient advocacy group to influence policies that favor patient rights, access to quality care, and affordable treatment options.
- Advancements in medical technology.
- Context: there has been a rapid evolution of medical technology. The patient advocacy group may be able to harness innovations like telemedicine, wearable devices, and health apps to enhance patient support, improve communication, and facilitate better healthcare outcomes for their patient community.
- Potential collaborations with other patient advocacy groups
- Context: the patient advocacy group might benefit from a partnership with another advocacy group. Such a collaboration would increase the collective strength and influence of patient community, allow the groups to pool their resources, bring together more diverse perspectives, and more.
Threats
Threats are external factors that pose challenges, risks, or obstacles to the achievement of an organization’s goals. These can arise from the competitive landscape, economic downturns, regulatory changes, social issues, or other external forces that negatively impact an organization.
Examples of Threats that a patient advocacy group could include:
- Economic downturn.
- Context: an economic downturn has led to reduced funding for healthcare initiatives and advocacy programs. This has threatened the patient advocacy group’s ability to allocate resources effectively and impacted its capacity to fulfill its mission.
- Technological barriers may exacerbate healthcare disparities.
- Context: while technological advancements present opportunities, there is a worry that some patients may face barriers accessing and adopting these new technologies, which may create further disparities in access to healthcare and pertinent patient information.
- Competing priorities in healthcare.
- Context: Given the numerous health-related groups competing for public and institutional focus, the patient advocacy group may struggle to garner attention and resources. The group will likely need to prioritize some initiatives over others and implement strong digital marketing and communications strategies.
The opportunities and threats that an advocacy group comes up with are likely known by the members of the advocacy group. However, writing them down in a proper SWOT analysis provides a tangible means to address these factors and provide guidance for future strategies – either to capitalize on potential opportunities or create strategies to avoid threats. While not necessary, many groups find it easier to use a table when performing an external analysis (see below) as it can make it more digestible and, thus, easier to refer to when developing future plans.
