Strategic Management and Planning for Health Care Organizations in Georgia

Background: In order to better adapt to the constantly changing global environment, the main priority of the healthcare system is the stable functioning of the hospital sector, for which it is necessary to execute efficient strategic management processes. The purpose of the research is to study the barriers to effective implementation of strategic plans in hospitals in Tbilisi (Georgia).  Methods: As part of the quantitative research, a survey of 23 top managers of 10 large hospitals was conducted.  Research results: None of the hospitals employed external consultants for strategic planning. A small number of hospitals attended strategic planning training (13%), only one hospital had a strategic planning committee (4.3%), the majority of hospitals (87%) had a documented strategic plan; Strategic planning was primarily engaged by the management board (69.6%), with doctors participating to a lesser extent (30.4%). Only one-third (34.8%) of hospitals develop their budget according to the strategic plan. Resources (43.5%) and allocation of budget funds (47.8%) are not done in accordance with the goals of the strategic plan. The majority of hospitals are less likely to compare the results of the evaluation of goal achievement indicators with those of other hospitals (52.2%), Only a few of them report the values of actions taken to accomplish the strategic plan's goals to the hospital (43.5%), Most of the hospitals rarely do benchmarking of other hospitals' goal-achieving measures (78.3%).  Discussion, Conclusion: Only a small number of hospitals have a strategic management process that as a consequence affects their success in the healthcare market. Due to inappropriate competence, physicians’ strategic planning skills are low. It is reasonable for the state to impose a requirement that the hospitals must produce a written strategic plan and employ a strategic management manager. It is essential to provide educational training on hospital strategic management processes.