Annual Conference Supplement 2009: Applying a complex adaptive systems approach to the management of integrated care

摘要

PurposeIntegrated health and social care is necessarily complex since the competence needed for carrying out the task of care does not lie within one individual provider organization, but requires deliberate co-operation between different providers.In this world, the primary managerial task is variously seen as seeking the efficient administration of human and material resources, and achieving prescribed performance targets for activities, or attracting and supporting all available resources to meet patient needs. In this paper, the authors take this latter approach and suggest how managers can apply complex adaptive systems thinking to the tasks of providing integrated care.