title: Best practices for managing surgical services: the role of coordination.
abstract: Growing evidence exists that patient outcomes are related to how effectively health care organizations coordinate work responsibilities among their staffs. However, information is lacking on actual practices that can be used to achieve effective coordination. This article reports on a National Veterans Affairs Surgical Risk Study, in which the authors studied the coordination practices of 20 surgical services that, based on risk-adjusted mortality and morbidity rates, occupied different ends of the patient outcomes continuum.
authors.affiliation: Management Decision and Research Center, Veterans Affairs Health Research and Development Service, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Charns
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Daley
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Forbes
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Khuri
mesh_terms: D019985:Benchmarking; D006302:Health Services Research; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D014481:United States