by Christopher Cornue

Over the past several months, I've noticed a significant shortage of a very important role in hospitals--that of the strategist or planner. These are the folks that understand the market dynamics, the new innovative approaches to care, niches that may exist for evolving technology and are able to collaborate with leadership to develop a vision for the organization's future.

I believe this type of individual is absolutely necessary for the success of an organization, especially during this "economic downturn"--what better way for a hospital to stay ahead of their competition and leverage ripe opportunities for growth, new service development and revisions of current services than to have dedicated folks remain one step ahead of everyone else.

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I also believe the best strategists and planners are those that either have a background in hospital operations, or have in depth knowledge of hospital activities--this allows for these individuals to be much more successful because they can appreciate the operational impact and ramifications that may come from these plans.

In these turbulent times, while the leadership is busy ensuring that patients have the best experience/outcomes, cost-control efforts are in place, employee/physician morale remains high, and the organization can weather the storm, it's critical that another individual is able to dedicate time and energy to parallel these efforts. Too often, this is one of the first individuals to be made redundant, or let go when the cost saving efforts turn to labor.

I know of several independent hospitals where this has occurred. I argue that this is one of the last individuals that should be let go for the reasons already stated. Hospital strategists and planners are becoming a rare animal out there, and I think it's time we protect this endangered species!