Medical staff involvement in strategic planning.

Hospitals have traditionally relied on consulting firms to conduct large scale planning studies. Many such "official plans" have been published with no real benefits to the organization. An alternative is to use existing resources and do the work internally. A planning process used by the Ottawa General Hospital (OGH) is outlined here. The planning process used at the OGH is significant for two reasons. It took into account multiple interests of a complex, professional organization. It recognized the need to incorporate input from members of the external environment of the hospital. This process was inspired by an approach developed in the evaluation field, the "active-reactive-adaptive" (A.R.A.) approach. The strategic planning exercise at the OGH opened lines of communication between administration and medical staff, increased awareness of planning principles, and promoted information exchange. The internally developed planning strategy was less expensive and produced information with a greater likelihood of affecting the hospital's future than a more easily ignored plan developed by outside consultants.