HOW TO BUILD HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS by Muir Gray
‘Most healthcare resembles Brownian Motion – the random movement of patients, professionals, blood samples and reports. We need to deliver care through patient-centred systems’ Muir Gray
The horizontal arrangement of healthcare into primary, secondary and tertiary care is no longer useful or fiscally prudent. It creates an environment where it is all too easy to focus on bureaucracy and empire building, instead of recognising the patient and clinician as decision-makers. We must move from a service in which institutions are the dominant type of organisation to one in which systems dominate.
A SYSTEM is a set of activities with a common set of objectives (also known as a service)
A NETWORK is a set of individuals and organisations that deliver the system’s objectives
A PATHWAY is the route that patients usually follow through the network
A systems approach to healthcare recognises the vital importance of self-care and informal care. It provides a tool to ensure that the right patients access the right care, and that the care is delivered right. It can answer the currently unanswerable question ‘Are we – as patients, payers, or clinicians – getting maximum value from the resources invested in our core businesses?’ The core businesses of healthcare consist of symptoms such as chest pain, and conditions such as epilepsy, bipolar disorder, or asthma.
How To Build Healthcare Systems helps you answer questions such as what are healthcare systems and how are they built? Why are they important? How are they best managed? How do systems fit in?
Muir Gray qualified in medicine in Glasgow and has worked for many years in public health for the NHS.
The horizontal arrangement of healthcare into primary, secondary and tertiary care is no longer useful or fiscally prudent. It creates an environment where it is all too easy to focus on bureaucracy and empire building, instead of recognising the patient and clinician as decision-makers. We must move from a service in which institutions are the dominant type of organisation to one in which systems dominate.
A SYSTEM is a set of activities with a common set of objectives (also known as a service)
A NETWORK is a set of individuals and organisations that deliver the system’s objectives
A PATHWAY is the route that patients usually follow through the network
A systems approach to healthcare recognises the vital importance of self-care and informal care. It provides a tool to ensure that the right patients access the right care, and that the care is delivered right. It can answer the currently unanswerable question ‘Are we – as patients, payers, or clinicians – getting maximum value from the resources invested in our core businesses?’ The core businesses of healthcare consist of symptoms such as chest pain, and conditions such as epilepsy, bipolar disorder, or asthma.
How To Build Healthcare Systems helps you answer questions such as what are healthcare systems and how are they built? Why are they important? How are they best managed? How do systems fit in?
Muir Gray qualified in medicine in Glasgow and has worked for many years in public health for the NHS.