title: A framework for describing health care delivery organizations and systems.
abstract: Describing, evaluating, and conducting research on the questions raised by comparative effectiveness research and characterizing care delivery organizations of all kinds, from independent individual provider units to large integrated health systems, has become imperative. Recognizing this challenge, the Delivery Systems Committee, a subgroup of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Effective Health Care Stakeholders Group, which represents a wide diversity of perspectives on health care, created a draft framework with domains and elements that may be useful in characterizing various sizes and types of care delivery organizations and may contribute to key outcomes of interest. The framework may serve as the door to further studies in areas in which clear definitions and descriptions are lacking.
authors.affiliation: Ileana L. Piña is with Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore-Einstein Medical Center, Bronx, NY. Perry D. Cohen is with the Parkinson Pipeline Project, Washington, DC. David B. Larson is with the Department of Radiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH. Lucy N. Marion is with the Medical College of Georgia School of Nursing, Macon. Marion R. Sills is with the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver. Leif I. Solberg is with HealthPartners Medical Group and Clinics, Minneapolis, MN. Judy Zerzan is with the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, Denver.
authors.forename: Ileana L
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Piña
authors.forename: Perry D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Larson
authors.forename: Lucy N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Marion
authors.forename: Marion R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Sills
authors.forename: Leif I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Solberg
authors.forename: Judy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zerzan
mesh_terms: D057186:Comparative Effectiveness Research; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005376:Financial Management; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015279:Organizational Culture; D005791:Patient Care; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D013597:Systems Analysis; D014481:United States; D016270:United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality