Of chaos, Merlin and the future of medicine

Chaos theory is a good way to describe what has taken place in the recent history of health care. A prevailing dynamic in nature is for seemingly small variations in an initial set of circumstances to cause very large variations in behavior. In health care, an innocuous policy made at some point in the system may have drastic effects on other parts. Merlin was the fabled wizard of King Arthur's court who was born in the future and lived backward through time, enabling him to foretell events. Similarly, medical practice administrators should envision the future they want for themselves and make the changes now that will result in that future. A methodology for accomplishing that is presented.