Achieving Consensus

The CDA Applied Strategic Planning Committee completed the majority of Phase I of the 2004 Strategic Plan for the association with its draft report to the Board of Trustees in mid-August. The Board accepted that report, which includes a vision statement, a mission statement, core values, and goals for the association.

Yet to be completed in Phase I at the time of this writing, is a review of feedback received from shadow teams and the Board that was the subject of discussion at a final meeting of the committee on Sept. 9. Shadow teams of association stakeholders (people with an interest and stake in the outcome of the Strategic Plan), representing a wide range of association membership interests, were identified by each of the 25 members of the committee. The role of these groups was to provide feedback to the committee during its development of the Strategic Plan. At the September meeting, the committee completed minor modifications and editorial revisions based upon the feedback it received, completing Phase I of the Applied Strategic Planning process

The process has now entered Phase II, with the effort to inform component society leaders and delegates and other interested members of organized dentistry about the plan in advance of the 2000 CDA House of Delegates next month in San Diego. The proposed 2004 CDA vision, mission, core values, and goals will be placed before the House of Delegates for adoption, which is Phase III of the process. Phase IV -- implementation -- is the ultimate objective once the elements of the plan have been adopted by the CDA House.

In the spirit of the education and membership goals of the Strategic Plan, we believe that dissemination and review by interested members is important at this time. Therefore, we are providing a brief summary along with comment in this space. Your comments should be directed to the members of your component society delegation well in advance of the Nov. 19-21 session of the CDA House of Delegates.

In our opinion, the new vision, mission, and core values statements (see box) for CDA have been carefully developed by the Applied Strategic Planning Committee and should be embraced by all membership. Taken together, they provide an excellent foundation for the future of organized dentistry in California.

Goals and objectives that address the first section of the plan, corporate operations, may not immediately hold the attention of the membership at large. However, they speak to the importance of achieving shared visions and guiding practices of all subsidiaries and departments of the association, the adjustment of internal staff structure, and the commitment of all employees to serve the best interests of the members of the California Dental Association.

Governance goals and objectives include a restructuring of the volunteer leadership, a recruitment and training program to develop a corps of qualified and effective leaders, and a fully operational charitable and educational foundation. In this space, we have commented annually about the lack of a more robust pool of volunteer leaders. Implementation of this part of the strategic plan is vital to an effective organization in the future. A good training program in leadership skills is also fundamental to a successful, volunteer-driven organization.

Central to the education section of the Strategic Plan is development of a learning center concept, which uses existing CDA educational vehicles such as publications, Online, and Sessions. It expresses a commitment to lifelong learning and year-round virtual distance learning, including interactive continuing education programs. Included in the plan are implementations of system protocols for exchange of pertinent information, which will allow a continuum of information that ranges from responses to basic member inquiries, to comprehensive educational information. It also speaks to an association commitment to support efforts of the dental schools to obtain necessary funding to fill faculty openings with quality people. Another goal seeks support for continuous quality improvement (and the QUIL3 program) by the membership if CDA is to effectively convey to the public the benefit of choosing a CDA member dentist. This goal also speaks to an effective public relations program by CDA regarding these initiatives.

The membership goals include a comprehensive membership resource center that provides exceptional service and programs that are desired by the membership. It will seek to survey what members need and want on an ongoing basis. Also included is a contact center to provide response to membership inquiries and a plan to maintain interactive cooperative meetings for the membership, including virtual, Web, town hall, and face-to-face. Another membership goal directly seeks to increase CDA membership to represent a greater percentage of dentists and reflect the diversity of licensed dentists in California. This goal focuses on recruitment of students at all educational levels to careers in dentistry, development of an innovative dues structure that raises the perceived value of membership, and a membership recruitment plan for dental faculty.

Several other membership goals include activities often requested by the association members, including an aggressive marketing program, addressing the allied dental health personnel needs of members, and an ombudsman program to assist them in dealing with third-party payer issues. The committee also recognized a severe professional problem area when they vowed to form collaboration with entities such as health care foundations, dental schools, and the legislature to consider student debt issues and formulate a plan to address this significant problem for younger practitioners.

Public policy goals are also an important part of the Strategic Plan. They include aggressive representation of the profession by the association and the promotion of the health of the public before legislative and regulatory bodies in order to become recognized as the respected voice on oral health issues. CDA would become established as a leader in improving access to oral health care services, be recognized as a major player in influencing the outcome of legislative elections, and ultimately seek to create a new win-win-win model of dental reimbursement.

The rationale for strategic planning provided by the committee provided some principal reasons why this process is important to organized dentistry in California. Three of these impress us with their importance based upon our observations of the workings of the association in recent years. First on the list is "to better represent and serve the members," followed by "to raise the perceived value for membership in CDA among all California dentists." We believe that the first will lead to the second. Various sources of input have clearly shown a need for improvement of the services received by the membership. The membership today expects an increased level of representation and advocacy from the association that has not been part of the traditional mix. The plan, in our view, effectively addresses the needs that have been frequently expressed.

The other reason that jumps out in support of this plan is "to create continuity of purpose and action across all levels of CDA." In our experience, purpose and efficiency are essential if we are to make the best uses of our resources. The CDA family of companies has experienced difficulty in recent years making the best use of our efforts and resources. In the development of this plan, we have seen the evolution of a new commitment by staff and volunteers to develop a focus that will help to address these previous shortcomings.

Dentistry, and the world that influences it, has been radically changing, requiring that dentistry change its modus operandi. The membership has been aging, and the expectations of younger members regarding association service and value are different. If organized dentistry is to have any success in meeting the challenges of today and tomorrow, it must transition to a new approach of doing business. The last two decades of the 20th century were periods of remarkable growth for CDA that are unlikely to be repeated. Just like the individual dental office, the association needs to focus its efforts and resources if it is to successfully face the new challenges of the 21st century. In the past, organized dentistry maintained a strong voice, as it was able to represent about 80 percent of the dental profession. This segment of the dental population has been eroding in the past decade. Failure to increase our ranks and resources will result in an organization that fails to address the needs of members.

Additional details describing the Applied Strategic Plan were included in the September CDA Update. Take the time to review them and advise your local leadership and delegates to the House of your opinions regarding the plan. The accomplishments of the profession in the years ahead depend upon participation and support at every level of the membership.