Operations Management

Building and Implementing an Operational Plan

Published Online:Oct 10 2018https://doi.org/10.1148/rg.2018180027

Abstract

Operational planning provides structure for departmental employees and ties their day-to-day activities to the larger strategic plan of the department and the overall organization.

Radiology practices engage in planning processes with varying frequency. Organizational planning can occur on three levels. Strategic planning is an infrequent event occurring every 5–7 years. It is aspirational and is guided by the mission and the vision of the organization. Operational planning is a yearly process in which businesses articulate their goals for the year. Creating a yearly operational plan provides departmental employees with a road map for the upcoming year and helps to tie their daily activities to the larger strategic plan of the organization. Finally, a project plan provides details describing how a specific goal will be met. The differences among these three types of plans (strategic plan, operational plan, and project plan) are described. The article then focuses on operational planning, providing a rationale for building an operational plan and then a description of the method used in the authors’ division to build an operational plan.

^©RSNA, 2018

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Article History

Received: Feb 19 2018
Revision requested: Mar 27 2018
Revision received: Apr 13 2018
Accepted: Apr 18 2018
Published online: Oct 10 2018
Published in print: Oct 2018

Vol. 38, No. 6

Abbreviations

Abbreviation:
PACS	picture archiving and communication system

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