Considering complexity in healthcare systems
Considering complexity in healthcare systems
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DOI：
10.1016/j.jbi.2011.06.006
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发表时间：
2011-12-01
影响因子：
4.5
通讯作者：
Patel, Vimla L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kannampallil, Thomas G.;Schauer, Guido F.;Patel, Vimla L.
在文献中的一个最近的趋势是表征医疗保健活动的复杂系统理论。复杂性的定义往往是松散和多样的，从“不简单”到“复杂”再到“棘手”。“在本文中，我们考虑了复杂性的各个方面以及它们与现代医疗实践的关系，旨在开发研究复杂医疗环境的研究方法。我们提出了一个理论上的透镜的理解和研究的复杂性，在医疗系统的基础上，系统组件的相互关联程度。我们还描述了相关的警告，复杂的医疗保健系统通常是如何分解的，使它们更易于处理，以供进一步研究。系统组成部分之间的相互关联性作为复杂性的衡量标准，功能分解作为研究复杂系统中有意义的子组件的机制，这些想法可以用作理解复杂医疗系统的框架。使用从当前文献和我们自己的研究中得出的例子，我们解释了这种方法的可行性，了解，研究和管理复杂的医疗保健系统。(C)2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
A recent trend in the literature has been to characterize healthcare activities in terms of complex systems theory. Complexity has often been loosely and variously defined, with meanings ranging from "not simple" to "complicated" to "intractable." In this paper, we consider various aspects of complexity and how they relate to modern healthcare practice, with the aim of developing research approaches for studying complex healthcare environments. We propose a theoretical lens for understanding and studying complexity in healthcare systems based on degrees of interrelatedness of system components. We also describe, with relevant caveats, how complex healthcare systems are generally decomposable, rendering them more tractable for further study. The ideas of interrelatedness among the components of a system as a measure of complexity and functional decomposition as a mechanism for studying meaningful sub-components of a complex system can be used as a framework for understanding complex healthcare systems. Using examples drawn from current literature and our own research, we explain the feasibility of this approach for understanding, studying, and managing complex healthcare systems. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.