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The supply chain is a crucial component of health care operations. Nearly all hospital departments rely on supplies; therefore, materials management is monitored closely. Patients also need supplies during their stay or during out-patient procedures. Quality care is virtually impossible if supplies are not readily available in adequate amounts. Keen management of supplies and materials is necessary to achieve the highest quality of care goal. This can only be achieved through mastering operations management skills. Operations management is the organizing and controlling the fundamental business activity of providing goods and services to customers. Operations managers working in hospitals are the center of supply delivery management. Operations managers have the heavy burden of knowing that any delay in supply can result in the death of a patient. One major constraint that hospitals face is having enough supplies on hand. It is difficult to have large amounts of certain drugs, equipment, emergency supplies, etc. when everything is extremely expensive or over-priced. Thus, cost is another potential constraint. Sharing some of the burden of costs and demand across hospital units is a great way to share the responsibility of ensuring that the hospital has the supplies that it needs. Collaborative planning is an approach to practical planning that brings team members together around the visible business milestones that are important to the success of each and every group that is a part of the bigger team (Watson, 2009). This method is useful in aligning team members to the organizational vision when creating project plans. It is especially valuable when a team is composed of various independent groups, possibly with different ideas of how a planning process should work. Collaborative planning also allows information sharing of best business practices or best of kinds to be utilized among the entire facility. If something is working well in one department, it is easier to implement it within another department through discussions and idea sharing in collaborative planning meetings. There are many other benefits to collaborative planning. Collaborative planning offers clarity in strategic priorities and hospital goals. Brainstorming sessions also result in provoking questions about what the hospital does to achieve quality patient care. As well as how the hospital can excel and guarantee that each patient is receiving the supplies that they need. The collaborative learning team can also create the template for a strategic planning document that can grow and change as necessary to accommodate the changing needs of the hospital. The document wording will be refined and continuously tested as questions arise through the strategic planning. The questions will afford participants of the strategic planning meeting the opportunities to offer their reactions and proposals to the ever-changing hospital environment, build on each other’s ideas and insights and develop a sense of personal commitment to a realistic, actionable and results-oriented strategic plan. Collaborative planning is also useful in creating emergency game plan. All hospitals have an emergency plan to handle natural and man-made disasters. The response plan must be the results of a team effort (Cooper, 2008). Each department must be given the opportunity to provide input in the creation of the response document, limiting the room for personal preference or favoritism of one department over another. The plan should be developed by members of a disaster response committee comprised of people from each department within the hospital. Fairness and plan comprehension is achieved through placing limits on the amount of time a single representative may be a member of the committee. The committee must examine all potential disasters (both man-made and natural) in order to comprise the most comprehensive emergency response plan possible. Each potential disaster/threat must be addressed with its own plan of action. Each scenario should have a minimum of two contingency plans in the event that the original plan is impossible to execute. An assessment of the hospital’s preparedness is essential to identify potential areas of weakness or concern. Each scenario should then be reviewed for impact on the hospital infrastructure, patients, staff, and supplies. Key questions should be asked to cover all possible scenarios. For example, will the hospital use back-up generators' Is there a specific area designated for triage outside of the hospital if necessary and if so, does the area have access to a generator' Will there be an emergency supply of food and water' If so, are there enough supplies to last the first 72 hours of the crisis' How will the facility establish communication if the telephone lines and computer system are down' There are a multitude of issues that can arise in the event of an emergency or natural disaster. Reduced staffing might be a potential issue for those employees trying to make it in to work from impacted areas. It is the committee’s job to brainstorm and come up with plans that best addresses each potential concern to the best of their ability. Strategic planning is a diverse and complex task. However, it is necessary in any business in order for operations to run smoothly. Plans can be made through committees or collaborative planning meetings. Both are effective was to lay out guidelines to achieve organizational success. The key factor is to be flexible and adjust plans as the organization grows or changes. References Watson, R. (2009). Strategic Planning in Healthcare Journal of Clinical Nursing, 18(23), p.3237-3423. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2009.02939.x Cooper, D. (2008). Emergency Response Techniques (10th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.