Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Health care evolution. Or is it?

E R Washburn1

  • 1El Dorado Pediatric Medical Group, Inc., Placerville, CA, USA.

Physician Executive
|February 6, 1997
PubMed
Summary

Evolutionary theory is ill-suited for understanding rapid changes in healthcare, a socio-economic system. Dialectical thinking offers a more appropriate framework for analyzing these complex shifts in medicine.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

The pressures against which oils will spread on solids.

The Journal of physical chemistry·2010
Same author

Medical privacy: from the 4th Amendment to HIPAA. Right to privacy vs. public health: showdown looms over patient genetic information.

Physician executive·2003
Same author

Fast forward: a blueprint for the future from the Institute of Medicine.

Physician executive·2001
Same author

Are you ready for generation X?

Physician executive·2000
Same author

The coming medical apocalypse.

Physician executive·1999
Same author

The physician leader as logotherapist.

Physician executive·1998

Area of Science:

  • Medical theory
  • Socio-economics
  • Philosophy of science

Background:

  • Evolutionary theory is widely used to explain biological changes.
  • Healthcare is undergoing rapid transformations.
  • Applying biological theories directly to socio-economic systems like healthcare can be problematic.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To question the applicability of evolutionary theory to understand changes in the healthcare industry.
  • To identify a more suitable theoretical framework for analyzing rapid shifts in medicine.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis of evolutionary theory.
  • Critique of applying biological frameworks to socio-economic systems.
  • Exploration of dialectical thinking as an alternative.

Main Results:

  • Evolutionary theory, designed for biological systems, does not adequately explain changes driven by scientific, economic, and political factors in healthcare.
  • The use of evolutionary jargon can obscure rather than clarify the dynamics of healthcare change.
  • Dialectical thinking provides a more robust lens for understanding the complex, multi-causal nature of transformations in the healthcare industry.

Conclusions:

  • The healthcare industry's changes are better understood through a socio-economic and dialectical framework, not evolutionary biology.
  • Adopting dialectical thinking can lead to more accurate analyses and strategies for navigating healthcare's rapid evolution.

Related Experiment Videos