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LONG RANGE PLANNING COMMITTEE
Cheryl Coffin, Chair

1. The Strategic Plan for the Society for Pediatric Pathology was reviewed and revisions were made (see attached). Special thanks are extended to Drs. Deborah Perry and Joe Rutledge for their extensive review and suggestions for the Strategic Plan.

2. The future of the Long Range Planning Committee was discussed. It is suggested that it be renamed the Strategic Planning Committee and restructured. In the restructured committee, the Chair will be the President-Elect of the SPP, and members will include the immediate Past President of the SPP and Council members-at-large. A re-written bylaw for the Strategic Planning Committee was drafted and brought to the SPP Council by Linda Margraf.

3. The committee recommends that the Liaison Committee be dissolved because of redundancy and overlapping functions with the Long Range Planning (Strategic Planning) Committee.

4. The Strategic Plan will be presented for approval at the October 28, 2004, SPP Council Meeting and will also be discussed as an agenda item at the February, 2005, SPP Council Meeting. Strategic Plan
Society for Pediatric Pathology
October 28, 2004

Vision
To further the understanding and diagnosis of disorders affecting children by promoting diagnosis, research, education, training, and advocacy in pediatric pathology.

Mission The mission of the Society for Pediatric Pathology is
  • To promote expertise, effective teaching, and productive research in the practice of pediatric pathology.
  • To assist and promote the development and recognition of resident and fellow training programs in pediatric pathology and, through the American Board of Pathology, establish and maintain a means by which pathologists may be certified as having special competency in pediatric pathology.
  • To sponsor and promote the education of physicians and others in health care related to pediatric pathology.
  • To establish and maintain relationships with other societies and groups of physicians and other scientists who share professional interests with the SPP.
Summary of Goals
Advocacy: Represent the interests of children, the discipline of pediatric pathology, and other pathologists who are concerned with the study and diagnosis of childhood disease.

Annual Meeting: Produce an annual meeting and interim meeting of the highest quality, which provide cutting edge science and review of selected topics in pediatric pathology.

Communications: Enhance communication with SPP members, other pathologists, and pediatric subspecialists and promote the practice and science of pediatric pathology to ensure its future in medicine and the best care of patients.

Education and CME: Strengthen the profession of pediatric pathology by keeping members and other constituents aware of recent developments in the clinical applications, practice, and science of pediatric pathology.

Finance and Development: Assure the financial viability of the SPP.

International Members and Outreach: Enhance the reputation of the SPP worldwide among clinicians and scientists in the field of pediatric pathology and provide outreach to developing countries.

Leadership Development: Identify SPP members for leadership and committee positions and mentor pathologists for leadership positions.

Membership: Improve and communicate the value of SPP membership, with a special emphasis on junior members.

Practice: Promote the expertise and represent the interests of practicing pediatric pathologists and other pathologists who provide care for children.

Publishing: Ensure the position of Pediatric and Developmental Pathology as the pre-eminent pediatric pathology journal.

Quality of Care: Promote health and highest quality clinical care of pediatric patients.

Research and Scholarship: Attract and motivate academic pediatric pathologists beginning their careers to enter and remain in the field of pediatric pathology and support scholarship for pediatric pathologists throughout their careers.

Training: Develop programs that promote and enhance training in pediatric pathology and also increase the number of pediatric pathology trainees, to appropriately fill manpower needs.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES


Advocacy

Goal: Represent the interests of children, the discipline of pediatric pathology, and other pathologists who are concerned with the study and diagnosis of childhood diseases.

Objectives:
1. Develop and monitor a strategic plan for the Society for Pediatric Pathology.
2. Partner with other organizations, particularly pathology-specific groups, in areas of common interest, such as practice and research.
3. Serve as the primary resource for advocacy efforts of the SPP.
Measures of Success:
  • Implement and periodically revise the SPP Strategic Plan.
  • Write an SPP annual report based on the goals and objectives of the Strategic Plan.
  • Present a report that outlines the groups that the SPP successfully collaborated with on an annual basis.
  • Measure the hits on the SPP website to determine website utilization.


Accountable Parties: SPP Council, Practice Committee, Strategic Planning Committee.

Annual Meetings
Goal: Produce an annual meeting and an interim meeting of the highest quality, which provide applicable cutting edge science and review selected topics in pediatric pathology.

Objectives:
1. Produce an education program that provides a review of how pediatric pathology is practiced today, with rotating topics.
2. Provide a scientific program that offers the latest research in selected areas, with rotating topics.
3. Provide the highest quality oral, poster, and plenary presentations based on abstract submissions and review.
4. Offer educational experiences including special opportunities for trainees.
5. Ensure comprehensive logistic management so as to facilitate an environment conducive to a high quality scientific meeting.
6. Create productive networking environment for meeting attendees by providing opportunities for the exchange of ideas.

Measures of Success:
  • Annual meeting attendee evaluation for each meeting.
  • Attendance at annual and interim meetings.


Accountable Parties: Education Committee.

Communications
Goal: Enhance communication with SPP members and promote the science and practice of pediatric pathology to ensure its future in medicine and the best care of patients.

Objectives:
1. Enhance communication with the SPP membership.
  • Provide a quarterly newsletter.
  • Work to improve communication with members by enhancing current communication tools, such as the newsletter, e-mail news bulletins, website, and other electronic communication services.


2. Inform other target audiences about pediatric pathology (such as non-member pathologists, pediatricians, and other primary care physicians).
  • Align more closely with pathology organizations and professional societies that represent either subsets of pathology or medical fields that are closely related to pediatric pathology.
  • Increase the visibility of SPP initiatives that have as a key part of their mission to promote clinical research in pediatric pathology.


Measures of success:
  • Website statistics, hits, and links.
  • Evaluation of non-electronic activities.
  • Communications
  • Utilization levels of educational materials by physicians.


Accountable Parties: Publications Committee.

Education/CME
Goal: Strengthen the profession of pediatric pathology by keeping members and other constituents aware of recent developments in the diagnosis, practical applications, and science of pediatric pathology.

Objectives:
1. Keep practicing pathologists up to date on advances in the field of pediatric pathology.
  • Develop and implement topical workshops and meetings for CME credit.
  • Evaluate abstracts for annual and interim SPP meetings.
  • Recommend and evaluate co-sponsorship of CME meetings with other organizations consistent with the mission of the SPP.
  • Continue to produce and maintain the quality of educational programs.
  • Recruit top quality speakers for the meeting programs in order to present the most up to date information.
  • Develop programs that will satisfy future reaccreditation requirements.
    2. Stimulate interest in the field, increasing the number of talented young physicians in the profession.
  • Give resident case presentation awards each year at interim meeting.
  • Evaluate manpower needs for pathologists with expertise in pediatric diseases.
  • Foster mentoring and networking between pediatric pathology trainees and experienced career professionals.
  • Recruit top quality speakers for the meeting programs in order to present the most up to date information, including special programs and events geared toward trainees.
    3. Promote awareness of the field of pediatric pathology.
  • Offer CME programs to pathologists outside of the discipline of pediatric pathology.
  • Liaison with other professional organizations.
    4. Provide the SPP slide survey program.

    Measures of Success:
  • Evaluation results from meetings.
  • Number of attendees at meetings.
  • Number of programs offered.
  • Future reaccreditations.
  • Slide survey program subscription and feedback.

    Accountable Parties: Education Committee, Practice Committee.

    Finance and Development
    Goal: Assure the financial viability of the SPP
    Objectives:    1. Maintain a formal annual process to evaluate and monitor the budget.
       2. Build means to support reserve, endowment, and other funds, as needed.
        3. Diversify sources of income by managing investments and engaging in development and fundraising efforts.
       4. Define financial targets for revenue and reserves commensurate with the needs of the SPP to fund activities and protect against risks.
       5. Ensure that the financial state and budgeting process of the SPP is transparent to membership.

    Measures of Success:
    • Budget in "the black".
    • Preservation of endowments.
    • Funds available for special projects.


    Accountable Parties: SPP Secretary/Treasurer, SPP Executive Committee, SPP Finance Committee, Management Office.

    International Members and Outreach
    Goal: Enhance the worldwide reputation of the SPP among pathologists and scientists in the field of pediatric pathology and provide outreach to countries outside of North America.

    Objectives: Represent the interests of international members.
    1. Encourage and facilitate international
    representation in the SPP. 2. Provide outreach for countries outside of North America.
    3. Distribute educational materials.
    4. Identify opportunities for providing short-term training for pathologists in pediatric pathology.
    • Foster collaborations between established or emerging global pediatric pathology networks.
    • Participate in international CME programs.


    Measures of Success:
    • Number of international members that join and maintain SPP membership annually.
    • Number of international members appointed to committees, contributing abstracts, or serving as invited speakers as part of the SPP meetings, and/or contributing to pediatric and developmental pathology as an author or reviewer.
    • Number of participants in CME programs.
    • Formal evaluations of value of training programs.
    • Number of SPP members serving as faculty for CME programs or volunteers outside of North America.


    Accountable Parties: President and Ad Hoc Outreach Group.

    Leadership Development
    Goal: Identify SPP members for leadership and committee positions.

    Objectives: 1. Solicit nominations for SPP officers from the SPP membership, including all committee members.
    2. Ensure a generation of candidates for committees and leadership and make recommendations to the SPP council.
    3. Solicit nominations and volunteers for SPP committees

    Measures of Success:
    • Involvement of members at all levels of experience in committee and leadership development opportunities.
    • Compare years in practice and years of SPP membership with SPP committee positions.


    Accountable Party: Nominations Committee

    Membership
    Goal: Improve and communicate the value of SPP membership with a special emphasis on junior members.

    Objectives:
    1. To recruit and evaluate applicants for membership in the SPP.
    2. Identify opportunities to recruit non-members who should be part of the SPP and encourage them to join.
    3. Identify major segments of our membership and determine the most effective way to make the SPP and its benefits and services more valuable to them.
    4. Continuously improve and reinforce through communication the value of SPP membership.
    5. Maintain permanent records of the SPP through the Archives Committee.

    Measures of Success:
    • Number of members.
    • Assess member needs, expectations, and satisfaction with benefits and services offered.
    • Track the success and cost effectiveness of all the membership recruitment and communications plans.


    Accountable Parties: Membership Committee, Archives Committee.

    Practice
    Goal: Promote the expertise and represent the interests of the practicing pediatric pathologist.
    Objectives:
    1. Determine and rank the primary challenges facing practicing pediatric pathologists in all clinical settings. Assess and address the needs of SPP members who practice pediatric pathology.
    2. Establish guidelines for practice including quality assurance and proficiency testing, in collaboration with other pathology organizations.
    3. Make recommendations to the Liaison Committee concerning establishment and maintenance of relationships between the SPP and other pathology organizations.
    4. Make recommendations for the annual and interim meetings to serve the educational and practical needs of practicing pediatric pathologists.
    5. Increase the public visibility of the SPP and the specialty of pediatric pathology in general.

    Measures of Success
  • Annual and interim meeting evaluations.
  • Published guidelines for practice in pediatric pathology.
  • Number of liaisons with the SPP and other pathology and professional organizations.

    Accountable Parties: Practice Committee, Education Committee.

    Publishing
    Goal: Ensure Pediatric and Developmental Pathology as the pre-eminent pediatric pathology journal.

    Objectives:
    1. Continue to improve the manuscript submission and peer-review system.
    2. Support a strong role of peer-review
    as it serves to maintain the quality and excellence of SPP publications. 3. Stay abreast of advances in on-line and print publishing and implement those that will further strengthen Pediatric and Developmental Pathology in its role as the pre-eminent pediatric pathology journal.

    Measures of Success:
    • Ease of use of review system for manuscript submissions as measured by the editor's and other users' satisfaction or the absence of complaints.
    • Monitor impact factor, level of submissions, and level of subscribers.


    Accountable Parties: Publications Committee and Editor-in-Chief.

    Quality of Care
    Goal: Promote children's health and the highest quality clinical care of pediatric patients.

    Objectives:
    1. Develop a plan to position SPP as a leading advocate of quality care, cost effectiveness, and safety and document the value of the pediatric pathologists in the delivery of quality care.
    2. Develop and disseminate tools in publications to help practicing clinicians stay abreast of emerging clinical information.

    Measures of Success:
  • Publications related to quality.
  • Educational programs related to quality of care.

    Accountable Parties: Practice Committee, Education Committee.

    Research, Scholarship, and Awards

    Goal: Attract and motivate pediatric pathologists throughout their careers and others beginning their careers to enter and remain in pediatric pathology and related disciplines.

    Objectives:
    1. Identify and facilitate research by the SPP as an organization.
    2. Provide a funding mechanism to support research in pediatric pathology by trainees, junior members, and members throughout their careers.
    3. Sustain a distinction and awards program designed to improve the field of pediatric pathology.
    4. Educate program directors about scholarship opportunities that exist through the SPP and focus these efforts on medical schools within the United States and Canada.
    5. Ensure that a review process is in place that will result in awards being evaluated for the highest quality applications and applicants, with consideration of scientific merit and programmatic balance.
    6. Collaborative investigative relationships with other organizations.
    7. Make recommendations to the Education Committee for programs or presentations concerned with research methodology or other information.
    8. Recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of pediatric pathology.

    Measures of Success:
    • Assess the percentage of SPP members who remain active in pediatric pathology research by periodically determining the number who are:
      • Published in peer-reviewed journals.
      • Hold academic positions.
      • Receive their grants for their research.
    • Provide grants and awards for scholarly activity including:
      • A. James Mc Adams short-term studies stipend.
      • Gordon L. Vawter Pathologist in Training Award.
      • Harry B. Neustein Memorial Award.
      • Lotte Strauss Prize.
      • Young Investigator Research Grant.
      • Resident Case Presentation Award.
    • Provide other distinguished service awards.
    • Number of applications received increases:
      • If support can be increased, then the number of awards granted can also be increased.


    Accountable Parties: Research Committee, Distinctions and Awards Committee.

    Training
    Goal: Provide resident training and pediatric pathology fellowship programs that promote and enhance training in pediatric pathology and also increase the number of pediatric pathology trainees.

    Objectives:
    1. Increase involvement of trainees in the SPP.
    2. Maintain a database of pediatric pathology trainees and pediatric pathology training program directors.
    3. Develop and periodically update a core pediatric pathology curriculum.
    4. Promote trainees' understanding of the breadth of careers in pediatric pathology.
    5. Foster success of pediatric pathology fellowships and other initiatives aimed at those responsible for delivery of pediatric pathology care.
    6. Survey pathologists and pediatric pathology training directors concerning how pediatric pathology is being taught and who is practicing pediatric pathology.
    7. Provide professional development opportunities for training program directors.
    8. Develop assessment tools for pediatric pathology fellowship training directors to assist them in implementing core competencies.
    9. Develop additional programs and resources that provide mentorship and networking opportunities for fellows and junior pediatric pathologists.
    10. Establish a repository of teaching and testing materials for use and development of expertise in pediatric pathology.

    Measures of Success:
  • Core curriculum document.
  • Rates participation and usage.
  • Surveys.
  • Gathering information on past program participants.
  • Effective resident and fellowship training in pediatric pathology. Accountable Parties: Membership Committee, Education Committee.





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