Strategic planning, operations management, and fiscal analysis and control: organizational imperatives.

Abstract

Strategic planning, operations management, and fiscal analysis and control are vital components of organizational function. It is the responsibility of leadership to provide ongoing analysis of the environment in which the organization operates, the personal values espoused by the organization, and ongoing organizational critical self-analysis. It is very important for an organization to conduct itself in a manner such that it fulfills its social responsibilities. A successful organization does these things by devising strategies that recognize its distinctive competence. Judicious implementation of strategic planning requires necessary financial support; leadership has the responsibility to ensure the availability of these funds. Leadership, furthermore, has the responsibility of fostering the development of those who will one day replace present leadership and provide future stewardship of the organization. The American Academy of Pain Medicine has been very successful in accomplishing these organizational responsibilities and a report of selected aspects of Academy activities follows. On Monday, September 8, 2003, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, the national broadcast and print media assembled to witness the American Academy of Pain Medicine launch TOP MED—Topics on Pain Medicine, a “virtual textbook” for medical students. This is an online, comprehensive “virtual textbook” of pain medicine applicable to patients of all ages suffering from varying types of pain. This program will be made available without charge to medical students across the country. TOP MED was envisioned as a way to promote formal pain medicine education and raise awareness of the necessity of and options for treating the millions of Americans who suffer from pain. Former Surgeon General David Satcher, MD, former Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Sullivan, MD, and Association of American Medical Colleges President Jordan Cohen, MD, joined AAPM leaders Daniel Carr, MD, and Marc Hahn, DO, to announce the TOP MED project. “Untreated pain, …