Strategic planning in a highly specialized orthopaedic institution

Introduction. The Institute for Orthopaedic Surgery 'Banjica' in Belgrade provides tertiary healthcare services on national level. After decades of constant development, a recent decline coincided with the decade of great social and governmental 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, financial and other resources; professional cooperation, stimulation; rivalry and mobbing (declared in 56%); public informing, 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 activities, general orientation to specific and exclusive pathological conditions and treatment methods, improvement of management transparency, introduction of quality-based stimulation of workers, support of promotional and PR activities.