Abstract
To thrive in today's health care environment, hospitals are constantly striving to exceed their customers' expectations in delivering quality care in a cost-effective manner. Meeting the patient educational needs of the consumer is one well-recognized aspect of quality care. Delivering quality care does not happen by chance; rather, it requires intense planning. Our academic medical center formalized this process by empowering professional staff from Nursing Development to develop and implement a patient education strategic plan. This article outlines the project management for the assessment phase of this strategic planning process. The findings were instrumental in outlining the future direction for patient education initiatives that will benefit both the patient and the organization.