Strategic planning--issues for hospitals in the 1980s

Five major issues that hospital administrators and strategic planners will face during this decade are outlined in this article. They include: health care costs, regulation, reimbursement, capitalization, and competition. Differences between investor-owned and not-for-profit systems are explored, as well as the extension of hospitals into the traditional medical practice. The author suggests that within the challenges to the health industry in the 1980s are numerous opportunities, particularly for hospitals and physicians, to form meaningful partnerships not only to survive but to succeed. This article is based in part on a presentation to the CAP Board of Governors on Nov. 12, 1982.