Tips on writing a SWOT analysis for a medical plan

Have you ever been in a situation where you developed a 'pro' and 'con' list to help you make an important decision? If so, then you ALMOST made a SWOT analysis.

A SWOT analysis is a strategic management tool to help you focus on the key issues. It is subjective, therefore you are encouraged to get input from a variety of functional departments (sales, medical, regulatory, government affairs, etc.) in order to ensure a realistic balance.

SWOT stands for 'Strengths', 'Weaknesses', 'Opportunities' and 'Threats'. These are usually set up in a quadrant.

'Strengths' and 'Weaknesses' are qualities and attributes that are intrinsic to the brand. These are facts and are usually in comparison to competitors. In the example below, dosing is used as a strength. This implies that competitors' dosing is more frequent than 1x per week.

'Opportunities' and 'Threats' are extrinsic to the brand, and are possibilities of the future. By 'extrinsic', we are referring to the market or competitors. Extrinsic 'opportunity' examples could consist of stealing share from a competitor, or riding the coat-tails of a quickly growing market.