# Flight plan — Healthcare

The flight plan with three columns a clinic, provider or health product needs: which service line this week's spend is pointed at, how much capacity stands behind it on the Monday, and the reference of the review that cleared the creative running in it.

Everything else is the general flight plan, unchanged. One row per week of one line of spend, a phase on every row, a share of the flight on each, and a decision point at the end of every phase.

## How to use it

1. Copy this file, or the CSV version if you would rather work in a sheet.
2. Write one row per week per line of spend, including the quiet weeks.
3. Give every phase a first week and a last week, and name the phase on every row inside it.
4. Leave Share of flight budget and Budget blank until the weight has been agreed against a plan you have.
5. Put a decision point on the last row of every phase, written as a question.
6. Give every dependency a due date that falls before the week that needs it.
7. Re-read the flight every Monday against what the accounts actually spent.

## The columns

**Flight** (Text). The demand period this row belongs to: a quarter for a service, a push after a practitioner joins, a standing presence. Name it so the quiet weeks are visibly part of a plan rather than a gap.

**Phase** (Text). Where in the period this week falls: build, steady, recovery, wind-down. A practice's phases are named for what is being pushed rather than for a launch curve, because most services run continuously.

**Channel** (Text). The platform this row's spend runs on, one per row, matching the media plan so spend by service reconciles between the two documents.

**Campaign** (Text). The campaign name as it reads in the ad account, carrying the service and the location, so a week of spend can be traced to a book that either had room or did not.

**Week starting** (Date (YYYY-MM-DD)). The Monday, and the same Monday the appointment book is read on. The two documents are meant to be opened together, which is the whole reason this plan is weekly.

**Share of flight budget** (Percent). What proportion of the period this week is meant to carry, before it is confirmed against availability. In a practice the planned share is a starting position rather than a commitment.

**Budget (minor units)** (Integer). The week's budget for this row, in the smallest unit of its currency, as a whole number, so a quarter of weekly rows still adds to what the practice agreed to spend on this service.

**Currency** (ISO 4217 code). The ISO 4217 code the ad account bills in. Most practices run one, and a second usually means a second entity whose spend should not be summed into the same total.

**Creative set** (Text). Which cleared assets are in market this week. Where a set names a practitioner, that is worth noting here, because it is the creative that becomes wrong the day they leave.

**Dependency** (Text). What this week needs from outside the ad account: the updated waiting time on the page, the new clinical review, the practitioner's availability confirmed, reception told what is starting.

**Decision point** (Text). What is being decided at the end of this week, as a question about fit: whether the enquiries are for the service advertised, whether they are attending, whether the catchment can travel.

**Owner** (Text). The person who answers for this row, usually the practice marketing lead, with the practice manager owning anything conditioned on availability.

**Notes** (Text). What the next person needs: the practitioner on leave, the week the book filled, the policy change that narrowed the audience, the seasonal pattern this service follows.

**Service line** (Text). The service or product this week's spend is pointed at. It sets the claim review, the audience type and the definition of a result at the same time.

**Capacity this week** (Text). What the service can actually see in the week ahead: appointments free, or weeks to the next available slot, with the day it was read. The column that keeps advertising honest.

**Claim review reference** (Text). The identifier of the review that cleared the creative in market this week, with its date and reviewer. It makes the flight answerable to what was claimed when.

## The flight plan

| Flight | Phase | Channel | Campaign | Week starting | Share of flight budget | Budget (minor units) | Currency | Creative set | Dependency | Decision point | Owner | Notes | Service line | Capacity this week | Claim review reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |

## Before you commit it

- Every week of every line has a row, including the quiet ones.
- Every row names a service line and the capacity behind it, with the day it was read.
- Every row carries the claim review reference of the creative in market that week.
- No week carries more weight than the capacity behind it can absorb.
- Every phase names its first week, its last week and its intent.
- Every dependency has a due date before the week that needs it.
- Every phase carries at least one decision point, written as a question.