Complex Healthcare Systems and Information Technology

The benefits of information systems to enable improvement in core hospital processes have been researched extensively. Information systems alert users of potential medical errors, streamline processes, and support clinical decision-making. Although promising, the value of information systems to enable improved clinical quality and reduce costs has been mixed. Given the significant financial and social costs to implement clinical information sys-tems, predicting their impact on performance outcomes is crucial. Unfortu-na-tely, predicting the impact of clinical information systems is difficult because hospitals are considered "complex systems". A complex system is characterized by nonlinear interactive components, emergent phenomena, continuous and discontinuous change, and unpredictable outcomes. This book utilizes a novel approach to computational modeling by simulating the impact of best practices guidelines on performance metrics. The results provide a robust and low cost method for predicting what conditions need to exist for a successful implementation. This book is directed towards healthcare administrators, informaticists, nurses, physicans and other medical professionals.