title: Clinical reengineering. A benchmark strategy.
abstract: The health care provider marketplace continues to undergo dramatic changes with the advent of hospital mergers, acquisitions, and physician and hospital alliances. In this era of managed care, cost containment is still vital to a hospital's success, but many stakeholders--patients, employers, and physicians--are determined that quality of care also remain paramount. How can hospitals reduce their expenses and maintain a quality focus? The answer lies in a successful clinical reengineering initiative. One progressive model of clinical reengineering is presented, as well as examples of initiatives at three health care institutions. Initial results of clinical redesign programs have been dramatic and encouraging, with documented evidence of simultaneous cost savings and improved patient care.
authors.affiliation: William M. Mercer, Inc., Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Greeson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lowenhaupt
mesh_terms: D017046:Cost Savings; D019091:Critical Pathways; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups / Q000191:economics; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D005377:Financial Management, Hospital / Q000379:methods; D006754:Hospital Restructuring / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011590:Psychology, Industrial; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014481:United States