This book is developed around a rational planning process of six steps required to develop a strategic plan for health services. Following an overview chapter that identifies the need for this text and how it differs from previous health planning texts, each succeeding chapter is devoted to one step in the process. Methods and techniques are provided that can help practitioners carry out the steps. Where feasible, the reader learns how to use these methods and how to identify their strengths and weaknesses. In an era of stiff competition among health service agencies and hospitals, practitioners who use the methods described will have a distinct advantage over those administrators who do not. In the fast developing and dynamic field of health care, past experiences are no longer the best barometer of what a health agency ought to do in the future. There is no longer any stability in the health service field. Consequently, program administrators and/or their planning/marketing directors do need a guide to insure they obtain better results from their efforts.
