Understanding and Managing the Complexity of Healthcare

Breakthroughs in medical science, innovations in medical technologies, andimprovements in clinical practices occur today at an increasingly rapid rate. Yet because of afragmented healthcare delivery system, many Americans are unable to benefit from these developments.How can we design a system that can provide high-quality, affordable healthcare for everyone? Inthis book, William Rouse and Nicoleta Serban introduce concepts, principles, models, and methods forunderstanding, and improving, healthcare delivery. Approaching the topic from the perspectives ofengineering and statistics, they argue that understanding healthcare delivery as a complex adaptivesystem will help us design a system that is more efficient, effective, andequitable.

The authors use multilevel simulation models as a quantitative tool forevaluating alternate ways of organizing healthcare delivery. They employ this approach, for example,in their discussions of affordability, a prevention and wellness program, chronic diseasemanagement, and primary care accessibility for children in the Medicaid program. They also considerpossible benefits from a range of technologies, including electronic health records andtelemedicine; data mining as an alternative to randomized trials; conceptual and analyticalmethodologies that address the complexity of the healthcare system; and how these principles,models, and methods can enable transformational change.

William B. Rouse is Humphreys Chair in Economics of Engineering in the School of Systems and Enterprises at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, and Professor Emeritus of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. Nicoleta Serban is Associate Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology.