Bringing a Systems Approach to Health

Gary Kaplan, Virginia Mason; George Bo-Linn, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; Pascale Carayon,
University of Wisconsin-Madison; Peter Pronovost, Johns Hopkins University;
William Rouse, Stevens Institute of Technology; Proctor Reid, National Academy of Engineering;
and Robert Saunders, Institute of Medicine1

Although the U.S. health system excels in several areas, its overall performance remains uneven in terms of safety, quality, value, and the health outcomes achieved. One important lever to address these performance gaps is the use of structured, evidence-based systems-engineering approaches, which have been used successfully by many other industries. When these approaches have been applied to health and health care, they have often brought about significant improvements in care quality, value, patient safety, patient experience, and overall health outcomes. Yet, such approaches remain generally underutilized in the health system, and their potential for improvement remains largely untapped.  Read full article here....