Once Nice to Have, an Ambulatory Care Strategy Now Is a Necessity

摘要

The feature articles in this issue of Frontiers of Health Services Management clearly illustrate the evolving and important role that ambulatory strategy plays for health systems in delivering patient-centered, accessible, efficient, safe, and quality care. Though Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health (LG Health) and Intermountain Healthcare operate in different parts of the country, both serve rural and suburban communities and deal with the same market forces that all healthcare leaders encounter: consumerism, the high-speed growth of technology, and- most importantly-the expectations of their patient populations and communities. Both organizations have experience developing ambulatory strategies that are integral to their mission, values, and overall organizational philosophy, and these strategies have led them to transform their approach and investment in ambulatory care networks.