Strategic management and health workforce policy

Among the many consequences of health care restructuring is the impact such changes have on the training requirements for the health professions. Since workforce planning has been difficult and sometimes controversial in relatively stable times, it is likely to be even more problematic amid the turbulent changes ahead as the U.S. health care system restructures for the 21 century. Strategic management models emphasizing stakeholder involvement offer a middle ground between the extremes of government mandates and free markets by engaging a variety of participants with a stake in the planning outcome. The following report on the New Jersey effort to engage a variety of health care stakeholders in a participatory management process to shape the state physician workforce may provide useful insights for both managers and policy-makers.