A model for health care delivery with an illustration of its application

A framework for conceptualizing the process of health care delivery is presented. The framework identifies broad categories of activities by which the functions of a health care provider can be organized, and has practical application to studies of the roles of a variety of health care personnel. By permitting clear identification of each component of a health professional's role, the model provides a method for quantitatively determining what an individual or group of individuals does. The utility of the model in operationalizing investigations of health care roles is illustrated by its application to a study of nurse practitioners. In this study, the conceptual model was used to structure a questionnaire for obtaining information about professional nursing roles. By providing a theoretical framework for the relationships between specific role components and certain outcome variables the model was also used in the generation of hypotheses and the design of statistical analyses. Results of some of these analyses are summarized.