strategic Planning Activities in Pharmacy and Healthcare Organizations

Strategic Planning in Pharmacy Operations is an important activity within pharmacies and health care organizations that is rarely considered by new pharmacy graduates.

strategic Planning Activities in Pharmacy and Healthcare Organizations

Introduction

Strategic planning is one of the most common types of planning that is conducted by health care organizations. 

• However, strategic planning is not unique to pharmacies or health care organizations; in fact, it represents a core management activity that is employed by all businesses.

• I am going to begin with a general discussion of management planning by pharmacy organizations.

• Pharmacies and health care organizations, like many businesses, are involved in, or should be involved in, many different types of planning for different purposes within the organization.

• Also, I am going to provide an understanding of where the responsibility of planning lies within organizations and the general structure or process involved in the planning efforts.

• These general concepts are applicable to all types of planning in all different types of organizations, including pharmacies.

• Next, we will discuss one specific type of planning-strategic planning. The intent of this discussion is to:

1. Provide a general understanding of the role of strategic planning.
2. Identify its key steps or components.

• While the material is applicable to almost any type of organization, examples pertinent to the profession of pharmacy or pharmacy practice within health care organizations are provided.

For readers interested in a more complete understanding of planning, there are many options for obtaining information beyond what is presented here. There are literally hundreds of textbooks addressing both general and specific topics within this field.

Planning in General

In the broadest sense, planning represents the purposeful efforts taken by an organization (for our purposes, a pharmacy organization) to maximize its future success.

• Planning as it is referred to here is sometimes called management planning because it is typically part of the duties of managers.

• Planning has been described as one of the four key functions of managers (along with organizing, leading, and controlling). In fact, of the four functions, planning is crucial because it supports the other three (Stoner, Freeman, and Gilbert, 1995).

However, planning may involve more than just managers at high levels; in fact, in smaller companies or in companies with fewer levels of management, front-line employees often are involved in planning.

What are the different types of planning activities occur within pharmacy organizations?

The most common types include:

1. Business planning
2. Financial planning
3. Operational planning
4. Resource planning
5. Organizational planning
6. Strategic planning 

The purpose of each type of planning is different. It is not the intent of this article to cover all these types of planning. Instead, a brief description of the purpose and characteristics of each is outlined in Table.

Types of Planning

Types	Purpose	Characteristics
Strategic planning	To ensure that the organization is doing the right things. Addresses what business the organization is in, or ought to be in, provides a framework for more detailed planning and day-to-day decisions.	Long term (5-20 years); scope includes all aspects of the organization; viewpoint is external- how the organization interacts with or controls its environment.
Operational planning	To ensure that the organization is prepared perform the immediate tasks and objectives to meet the goals and strategy of the organization. To ensure that the organization is doing things right.	Short term (1-5 years); scope is specific to the immediate actions that need to be taken to move the organization forward; viewpoint is internal- day-to-day accomplishment of tasks.
Business planning	To determine the feasibility of a specific business or program. Business planning is used to make a decision about investing in and moving forward with a program.	Short term (1-5 years); can be used to make decisions to start a new business, expand a business, or terminate a business.
Resource planning	To ensure the resources necessary to achieve the goals and strategy of the organization. Resource planning can be comprehensive (all resources needed to achieve goals and strategic plan of the organization) or can focus on a specific type of resource.	Midterm (1-10 years); scope is specific to the resource or resources defined in the plan-specific resources may include human resources, information/technology resources, financial resources, capital and facilities, and others; viewpoint is internal-the resource needs of the organization.
Organizational planning	To ensure that an organization is organized appropriately to meet the challenges of the future. Key elements include reporting relationships, definition of responsibilities, and definition of authorities.	Midterm (1-10 years); scope specific to the structural aspects of the organization including divisions, reporting relationships, coordination, control; viewpoint is internal-how the company organizes itself.
Contingency planning	To provide a fallback option or direction should the original strategy of the organization fail, or should something unexpected occur. Contingency planning can occur for a specific anticipated situation, the most common of which are business-related crises (such as a labor strike), natural disasters, and changes in management personnel.	Short to long term (1-20 years); scope is specific to the particular situation that may occur; viewpoint is both external (if the situation is created in the environment) and internal.

The planning process:

should begin with consideration of the purpose of the organization or system and of the planning effort itself. 

• This is followed by an analysis of the present situation or status of the system.
• Next, specific future goals are determined, and then a strategy for bridging the gap between the present and future is developed. 
• Interim objectives that measure progress toward the goals are then identified, and responsibilities and timelines for each objective are assigned. 

The plan then needs to be communicated, implemented, and monitored.

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