Reengineering the medical staff. Thirteen equals two

Managed care forces were putting pressure on Athens Regional Medical Center, Inc., and its medical staff to sustain quality of care, and simultaneously tighten the budget, achieve continued improvements in efficiency, and retrain employees. To ensure its leadership position in Northeast Georgia, ARMC decided to restructure the organization to avoid a "slash and burn" crusade later. This article addresses the medical staff restructuring and how it came about. The strategy eliminated five committees and reduced 13 Medical Staff departments to two.