Business Dynamics
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To better understand the performance of hospital operations in response to IT-enabled improvement, this paper reports the results of a system dynamics model designed to improve core medical processes. Utilizing system dynamics modeling and emerging Health Information Systems HIS data, the authors demonstrate how current behavior within the hospital leads to a 'stove-pipe' effect, in which each functional group employs policies that are rational at the group level, but that lead to inefficiencies at the hospital level. The authors recommend management improvements in both materials and staff utilization to address the stove-pipe effect, estimate the resultant cost-saving, and report the results of an experiment conducted in the hospital to validate the approach. Results indicate that the major gains in health information systems use will accompany new information gathering capabilities, as these capabilities result in collections of data that can be used to greatly improve patient safety, hospital operations, and medical decision support.