Healthcare Strategy and Innovation Training Course

Duration 10 days 20 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Healthcare Managers, Clinical Leaders and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-HSM-027

Before you join: Participants should have experience working in healthcare, public health, social care, health insurance, health policy or a related service environment.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Health systems face rising demand, workforce shortages, constrained budgets, unequal access and public expectations for safer, faster care. Leaders must decide which services to expand, redesign, stop or commission while balancing clinical outcomes, patient experience, financial sustainability and statutory duties. Strategy must translate population needs and policy priorities into practical choices about service models, investment, partnerships and delivery.

This course teaches participants to build and execute healthcare strategies using recognised strategic management, service planning, quality improvement and innovation methods. Participants assess health needs, map stakeholders, analyse market and policy drivers, define strategic priorities, design operating models, develop business cases and establish performance measures. The course addresses hospitals, primary care networks, public health agencies, insurers, social care providers, NGOs and private healthcare organisations.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with healthcare cases, facilitated group analysis, service redesign simulations and structured application planning. Participants progressively build a strategy pack for a real or realistic healthcare challenge, such as reducing emergency admissions, expanding community care, improving maternal health access or introducing a digital triage service. They leave with a tested strategy structure, implementation roadmap, performance dashboard and investment case that can be adapted for their organisation.

The course suits managers and advisers who contribute to strategic planning, transformation, service development, commissioning, quality, innovation or operational leadership. It is particularly relevant where participants need to move from isolated improvement projects to a clear strategic case for change and delivery plan.

What you will be able to do

  • Assess population health needs using epidemiological data, segmentation and equity measures
  • Apply SWOT, PESTLE and stakeholder analysis to a healthcare strategic challenge
  • Develop strategic priorities, service models and measurable outcomes for health services
  • Construct a healthcare business case using cost, benefit, risk and affordability analysis
  • Design implementation roadmaps using milestones, dependencies, governance and resource plans
  • Use quality, safety and patient experience measures to guide strategic decisions
  • Build performance dashboards using balanced scorecard and outcome-based indicators
  • Present a complete healthcare strategy and innovation plan to senior decision-makers

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produces a board-ready strategy pack for a live healthcare priority
  • Builds confidence presenting service investment choices to clinical and executive leaders
  • Improves ability to connect population needs with service design decisions
  • Strengthens business case writing for transformation and innovation funding
  • Provides practical methods for leading cross-functional healthcare change

For your organisation

  • Creates clearer priorities for investment, service redesign and innovation funding
  • Improves alignment between clinical quality, access, finance and workforce plans
  • Reduces poorly defined transformation initiatives and duplicated improvement activity
  • Strengthens evidence used in commissioning, partnership and capital investment decisions
  • Establishes measurable accountability for strategic programmes and service outcomes

Course modules

20 modules over 10 days

Participants can frame a healthcare strategic issue, define its scope and establish decision criteria.

  • Strategic intent linked to mission, mandate, population and service obligations
  • Problem statements separating symptoms, causes, constraints and decision requirements
  • Strategy hierarchy from system goals to service, programme and team plans
  • Decision criteria balancing quality, access, equity, cost and feasibility
  • Baseline assessment using service activity, outcomes, finance and workforce evidence
  • Strategic assumptions documented before selecting priorities or investment options

Participants can assess population needs and identify inequities requiring strategic action.

  • Population segmentation by age, condition, risk, geography and deprivation
  • Epidemiological measures: incidence, prevalence, mortality, morbidity and disability-adjusted life years
  • Health needs assessment using demographic, utilisation and outcome data
  • Equity stratification by income, gender, ethnicity, disability and rurality
  • Care gaps identified through avoidable admissions and unmet-need indicators
  • Priority populations selected using burden, inequity, feasibility and stakeholder criteria

Participants can map stakeholder interests and design appropriate strategic governance arrangements.

  • Stakeholder mapping with power-interest grids and influence network analysis
  • Clinical, patient, payer, regulator and community interests compared systematically
  • Governance structures defining decision rights, escalation routes and accountability
  • RACI matrices assigned for strategy development, approval and implementation responsibilities
  • Political feasibility assessed through supporters, blockers, incentives and dependencies
  • Engagement plans tailored to consultation, co-design, negotiation and communication needs

Participants can interpret external forces affecting healthcare demand, supply and strategic choices.

  • PESTLE analysis applied to health policy, regulation, funding and demographics
  • Porter's Five Forces adapted for provider, insurer and supplier relationships
  • Competitor and comparator analysis using service scope, quality and access
  • Scenario planning examines plausible policy, funding and demand changes
  • SWOT findings converted into implications rather than unranked issue lists
  • Strategic position statements define strengths, vulnerabilities and distinctive capabilities

Participants can select strategic priorities using transparent criteria and evidence.

  • Strategic options generated from needs, capability gaps and external opportunities
  • Multi-criteria decision analysis scores options against agreed weighted criteria
  • Priority matrices compare impact, feasibility, affordability, urgency and equity
  • Trade-off discussions distinguish essential services from desirable service enhancements
  • Strategic themes converted into clear objectives, outcomes and interventions
  • Choice rationale records evidence, assumptions, exclusions and approval requirements

Participants can design service models that improve patient flow, access and outcomes.

  • Patient journey mapping identifies delays, handoffs, duplication and unmet needs
  • Care pathways specify referral, assessment, treatment, follow-up and discharge stages
  • Hub-and-spoke models compare specialist concentration with local access requirements
  • Integrated care models connect primary, acute, community and social care
  • Demand-capacity analysis tests clinic, bed, theatre and workforce requirements
  • Service redesign options evaluated against safety, access, cost and patient experience

Participants can define value propositions and outcome measures for healthcare services.

  • Value-based healthcare links patient outcomes with costs across care pathways
  • Triple Aim measures balance population health, experience and per-capita cost
  • Patient-reported outcome measures selected for relevant conditions and interventions
  • Patient-reported experience measures identify access, communication and dignity issues
  • Outcome chains connect activities, outputs, clinical outcomes and social impact
  • Value propositions specify beneficiaries, benefits, evidence and delivery conditions

Participants can assess affordability and resource implications of strategic options.

  • Cost classifications distinguish fixed, variable, direct, indirect and opportunity costs
  • Activity-based costing allocates resources across services, pathways and patient groups
  • Budget impact analysis estimates annual expenditure and funding requirements
  • Cost-effectiveness concepts compare incremental cost with health outcome gains
  • Resource allocation criteria address equity, need, efficiency and statutory commitments
  • Financial assumptions tested through sensitivity analysis and scenario ranges

Participants can incorporate quality, safety and governance requirements into strategic plans.

  • Donabedian framework assesses structure, process and outcome quality measures
  • Clinical governance integrates audit, risk, learning and professional accountability
  • Safety culture indicators reveal reporting practices, escalation and speaking-up barriers
  • Root cause analysis distinguishes system contributors from individual error
  • Quality improvement aims specify measurable change and target populations
  • Assurance arrangements connect board oversight with frontline performance evidence

Participants can develop workforce requirements for new and redesigned healthcare services.

  • Workforce demand modelling links activity forecasts with staffing productivity assumptions
  • Skill-mix analysis compares professional roles, task allocation and supervision needs
  • Capacity plans address recruitment, retention, absence, turnover and training pipelines
  • Competency frameworks define capabilities required for future care models
  • Workforce risks include burnout, industrial action, shortages and succession gaps
  • Learning plans align clinical, digital, leadership and improvement capabilities

Participants can assess digital health opportunities, data requirements and implementation constraints.

  • Digital maturity assessment reviews systems, data, skills, governance and adoption
  • Interoperability requirements identify data standards, interfaces and information ownership
  • Digital triage options compare access, clinical safety and workflow impact
  • Data governance defines quality, privacy, access, retention and accountability rules
  • Clinical decision support assessed for evidence, usability and alert burden
  • Technology benefits tracked through adoption, outcomes, productivity and equity measures

Participants can identify, test and scale healthcare innovations using disciplined selection methods.

  • Innovation portfolios balance incremental improvement, service redesign and new ventures
  • Design thinking frames unmet needs through observation, interviews and journey evidence
  • Theory of change maps assumptions linking interventions to intended outcomes
  • Pilot criteria define target users, measures, duration and stopping rules
  • Diffusion factors assess relative advantage, compatibility, complexity and observability
  • Scale decisions consider evidence, capacity, funding, governance and local adaptation

Participants can prepare an evidence-based business case for a healthcare strategic initiative.

  • Five-case model structures strategic, economic, commercial, financial and management arguments
  • Options appraisal compares do-nothing, minimum-change and preferred investment cases
  • Benefits realisation plans assign owners, baselines, targets and evidence sources
  • Economic appraisal quantifies costs, cash flows, savings and non-financial benefits
  • Risk-adjusted estimates account for optimism bias, contingency and delivery uncertainty
  • Executive summaries present recommendations, affordability and decisions required clearly

Participants can convert a strategic initiative into a sequenced implementation programme.

  • Logic models connect inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and impact
  • Work breakdown structures organise deliverables, workstreams and accountable owners
  • Critical path analysis identifies dependencies, milestones and schedule constraints
  • Implementation roadmaps sequence mobilisation, pilot, rollout and stabilisation phases
  • Resource plans assign people, funding, facilities, technology and specialist support
  • Programme governance defines reporting cadence, tolerances and escalation thresholds

Participants can structure partnerships and service specifications that support strategic goals.

  • Commissioning cycles link needs assessment, specification, procurement and performance review
  • Service specifications define target groups, scope, standards and outcome measures
  • Partnership assessments compare complementary capabilities, incentives and governance maturity
  • Memoranda of understanding clarify shared objectives, contributions and dispute routes
  • Supplier evaluation considers quality, capacity, price, resilience and social value
  • Contract management uses milestones, key performance indicators and corrective actions

Participants can build performance systems that monitor strategic delivery and trigger corrective action.

  • Balanced scorecards connect financial, patient, process and capability objectives
  • Key performance indicators distinguish leading, lagging, outcome and process measures
  • Dashboard design uses targets, trends, variance explanations and action owners
  • Performance review meetings focus on exceptions, decisions and follow-through
  • Statistical process control charts separate common-cause from special-cause variation
  • Benefits tracking validates whether strategic initiatives achieve intended results

Participants can identify strategic risks and create resilience measures for healthcare services.

  • Risk registers document threats, causes, consequences, controls and accountable owners
  • Risk matrices assess likelihood, impact, velocity and control effectiveness
  • Scenario exercises test responses to outbreaks, cyber incidents and supply disruption
  • Business continuity plans protect critical services, communications and recovery priorities
  • Resilience indicators monitor surge capacity, stock levels and workforce availability
  • Escalation protocols define triggers, authority levels and emergency decision routes

Participants can lead adoption of strategic change through structured communication and engagement.

  • Kotter's eight-step model structures urgency, coalition-building and sustained adoption
  • Change impact assessments identify affected groups, processes, roles and behaviours
  • Communication plans match messages, channels, timing and audience concerns
  • Clinical champions support peer credibility, feedback and local problem-solving
  • Resistance analysis distinguishes practical barriers, values conflicts and trust deficits
  • Adoption measures track awareness, capability, use and sustained behaviour change

Participants can test a healthcare strategy for coherence, evidence, affordability and executive readiness.

  • Strategy-on-a-page formats align ambition, priorities, measures and delivery themes
  • Board papers distinguish decisions required from background evidence and implementation detail
  • Red-team reviews challenge assumptions, evidence gaps, risks and affordability claims
  • Decision logs record approvals, conditions, accountabilities and review dates
  • Presentation narratives connect patient need, strategic choice and measurable benefits
  • Review cycles update priorities using performance evidence and environmental changes

Participants can build, review and present a complete healthcare strategy and innovation plan for a defined service challenge.

  • Strategic challenge framed with population need, baseline evidence and equity implications
  • Priority choices justified through options appraisal and stakeholder analysis
  • Future service model specifies pathways, workforce, technology and partnerships
  • Business case presents costs, benefits, risks and affordability assumptions
  • Implementation roadmap assigns milestones, governance, resources and performance measures
  • Executive presentation receives structured challenge against board decision criteria

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Healthcare strategy-on-a-page template
  2. Population health needs assessment template
  3. Service redesign options appraisal matrix
  4. Five-case model business case template
  5. Strategic implementation roadmap
  6. Balanced scorecard performance dashboard

Who should attend

  • Healthcare Managers — to translate operational pressures into strategic service priorities
  • Clinical Leaders — to shape evidence-based models of care and improvement priorities
  • Health Policy Advisers — to turn policy goals into deliverable programmes and measures
  • Commissioning Managers — to assess needs, specify services and manage provider performance
  • Quality and Transformation Leads — to connect improvement initiatives with organisational strategy
  • NGO and Social Care Managers — to plan integrated services for underserved populations

Skills and tools covered

Healthcare strategic planningService model designInnovation portfolio managementBusiness case developmentPerformance measurementTransformation implementation

Tools and standards

SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, Porter's Five Forces, Five Case Model

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short expert briefings to introduce frameworks, followed by healthcare cases drawn from hospitals, primary care, public health and integrated care settings. Participants work in groups to interpret needs data, compare service options, test investment choices and respond to implementation risks. Simulations address executive decision-making, stakeholder disagreement and performance review. Each participant applies the methods to a chosen organisational issue, receiving structured peer and instructor feedback as their strategy pack develops through the ten days.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience working in healthcare, public health, social care, health insurance, health policy or a related service environment. They should understand their organisation's main services, patient groups and current operational pressures. Familiarity with budgets, performance reports or improvement projects is helpful but not essential. The course does not require clinical qualifications, advanced finance, statistical modelling, prior strategy training or knowledge of a particular national health system. Participants benefit most when they bring a live service, programme or strategic issue to develop during the course.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should have practical exposure to healthcare, public health, social care, health insurance or health policy. No clinical qualification, advanced finance training or previous strategy course is required.

Participants should bring information about a current service, programme or strategic issue where possible. Useful materials include performance reports, service activity data, existing plans, budget assumptions or stakeholder concerns.

The course suits managers, clinical leaders, transformation leads, commissioners, policy advisers and service development professionals. It is designed for people who contribute to strategic decisions rather than those seeking an introductory healthcare orientation.

Quality improvement courses usually concentrate on improving a defined process through methods such as PDSA cycles and process measurement. This course addresses wider choices about population priorities, service models, investment, partnerships, implementation and strategic performance.

Participants develop a strategy pack around a live or realistic healthcare challenge during the programme. The templates can be used for service reviews, investment proposals, transformation programmes, commissioning plans and executive presentations.

The first week establishes the evidence base, strategic choices, service model and financial case. The second week develops implementation, workforce, digital, risk, performance and change plans before the final strategy presentation.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.