TY - JOUR
T1 - Applying systems engineering principles in improving health care delivery
AU - Kopach-Konrad, Renata
AU - Lawley, Mark
AU - Criswell, Mike
AU - Hasan, Imran
AU - Chakraborty, Santanu
AU - Pekny, Joseph
AU - Doebbeling, Bradley N.
N1 - Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: This research was partially supported by funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, and also partially supported by HSRD Center grant no. HFP 04-148. The authors also appreciate the comments of attendees of the VA State of the Art Conference on Complexity, the comments of the SOTA and SGIM reviewers, and comments from Steven Witz, PhD. The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Veterans Health Administration.
PY - 2007/12
Y1 - 2007/12
N2 - BACKGROUND: In a highly publicized joint report, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine recently recommended the systematic application of systems engineering approaches for reforming our health care delivery system. For this to happen, medical professionals and managers need to understand and appreciate the power that systems engineering concepts and tools can bring to redesigning and improving health care environments and practices. OBJECTIVE: To present and discuss fundamental concepts and tools of systems engineering and important parallels between systems engineering, health services, and implementation research as it pertains to the care of complex patients. DESIGN: An exploratory, qualitative review of systems engineering concepts and overview of ongoing applications of these concepts in the areas of hemodialysis, radiation therapy, and patient flow modeling. RESULTS: In this paper, we describe systems engineering as the process of identifying the system of interest, choosing appropriate performance measures, selecting the best modeling tool, studying model properties and behavior under a variety of scenarios, and making design and operational decisions for implementation. CONCLUSIONS: We discuss challenges and opportunities for bringing people with systems engineering skills into health care.
AB - BACKGROUND: In a highly publicized joint report, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine recently recommended the systematic application of systems engineering approaches for reforming our health care delivery system. For this to happen, medical professionals and managers need to understand and appreciate the power that systems engineering concepts and tools can bring to redesigning and improving health care environments and practices. OBJECTIVE: To present and discuss fundamental concepts and tools of systems engineering and important parallels between systems engineering, health services, and implementation research as it pertains to the care of complex patients. DESIGN: An exploratory, qualitative review of systems engineering concepts and overview of ongoing applications of these concepts in the areas of hemodialysis, radiation therapy, and patient flow modeling. RESULTS: In this paper, we describe systems engineering as the process of identifying the system of interest, choosing appropriate performance measures, selecting the best modeling tool, studying model properties and behavior under a variety of scenarios, and making design and operational decisions for implementation. CONCLUSIONS: We discuss challenges and opportunities for bringing people with systems engineering skills into health care.
KW - Health care engineering
KW - Health services research
KW - Patient modeling
KW - Systems approach
KW - Systems engineering
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=36448945451&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=36448945451&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11606-007-0292-3
DO - 10.1007/s11606-007-0292-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 18026813
AN - SCOPUS:36448945451
SN - 0884-8734
VL - 22
SP - 431
EP - 437
JO - Journal of General Internal Medicine
JF - Journal of General Internal Medicine
IS - SUPPL. 3
ER -