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Working on quality initiatives that are not tied into the organization's strategic plan will lead to wasted effort and a lack of focus. On the other hand, strategic planning that is not grounded in quality principles could become a mere exercise that lacks the continuous review, measurement, and improvement of a quality focus. Strategic Planning in Healthcare: Building a Quality-Based Plan Step by Step provides the guidance needed to create and implement a strategic plan for healthcare organizations that fully integrates quality principles.
Using the clinical model of assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation, the author presents a framework for Quality-Based Strategic Planning (QBSP) that incorporates a synthesis of nine critical quality elements from Juran, Deming, JCAHO, the Baldrige Award, and other sources. Presented clearly and concisely, each phase of the model is examined in detail, with discussions on various tools and techniques that can be utilized, examples of how the concepts are applied, and a summary in the form of a roadmap outlining key tasks for managers.
In additition to charts and templates demonstrating key actions to move the plan forward, Horak supplies in-depth case studies of three groups that have sucessfully implemented QBSP: Optima Health, Sisters of charity of the Incarnate World Health Care System, and Walter Reed Army Medical Center. These organizations offer a first-hand look at the different stages in the QBSP process.
Managed care, downsizing, and mergers and their implications for planning are briefly discussed.
