Strategic Planning in a Highly Specialized Orthopaedic Institution

SUMMARY Introduction The Institute for Orthopaedic Surgery "Banjica" in Belgrade provides tertiary healthcare services on na- tional level. After decades of constant development, a recent decline coincided with the decade of great social and go- vernmental disturbance, the transition period after the dissociation of former Yugoslavia. Objective In order to overcome the crisis, we used modern management methods to define problems in the institution management, and to propose appropriate strategies. Methods A survey that included 100 employees (17.67%) was carried out, followed by descriptive statistical analysis, PEST and SWOT analyses. Results The impact of political fluctuations, ageing of population, financing model, obsolete medical technology was evaluated. Various personal and interpersonal factors were assessed: the quality of medical service (3.59±0.76, mark 1-5); relations among health service participants (3.39±0.78); occupational conditions (not good-91%); human, finan- cial and other resources; professional cooperation, stimulation; rivalry and mobbing (declared in 56%); public infor- ming, institution image (rank 3.70±0.88) and PR activities (new to 78%). 93% declared to give maximum effort at work. Conclusion Using these results, we defined several strategic objectives. These include strengthening scientific activiti- es, general orientation to specific and exclusive pathological conditions and treatment methods, improvement of ma- nagement transparency, introduction of quality-based stimulation of workers, support of promotional and PR activities.