Implications of reengineering in health care

Currently the United States spends 12 percent of its gross national product on health care, far more than any other industrialized nation. Technology accounts for 15 percent to 50 percent of the rise in hospital costs. No country is immune from public calls for strategic developments to maintain or lower costs and guarantee high quality while maintaining access for all patients. To achieve these goals of adequate access, high quality, and greater efficiency, hospitals must discard complicated and unwieldy administrative practices that have evolved. How to best deploy technology in health service organizations requires a strategic perspective that results in operational break-throughs. Accelerated alignment of clinical and management processes, systems integration, and health care process redesign are required to achieve the goals of lower costs, higher quality, and greater access. An environmental background of reengineering is presented for health service organizations to use in their processes. Some critical relationships between reengineering and total quality management (TQM) in the health care setting are addressed. Implications of reengineering for health service organizations are offered to facilitate the implementation of the concept.