The new production theory for health care through clinical reengineering: a study of clinical guidelines--Part I.
Drucker writes that the emerging theory of manufacturing includes four principles and practices: statistical quality control, manufacturing accounting, modular organization, and systems approach. SQC is a rigorous, scientific method of identifying variation in the quality and productivity of a given production process, with an emphasis on improvement. The new manufacturing economics intends to integrate the production strategy with the business strategy in order to account for the biggest portions of costs that the old methods did not assess: time and automation. Production operations that are both standardized and flexible will allow the organization to keep up with changes in design, technology, and the market. The return on innovation in this environment is predicated on a modular arrangement of flexible steps in the process. Finally, the systems approach sees the entire process as being integrated in converting goods or services into economic satisfaction. There is now a major restructuring of the U.S. health care industry, and the incorporation of these four theories into health care reform would appear to be essential. This two-part article will address two problems: Will Drucker's theories relate to health care (Part I)? Will the "new manufacturing" in health care (practice guidelines) demonstrate cost, quality, and access changes that reform demands (Part II)?
Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland AFB, TX.
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D005568:Forms and Records Control; D006772:Hospitals, Military / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011590:Psychology, Industrial; D013781:Texas