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Executive
Summary: Managing
Strategic Outsourcing in the Healthcare Industry Velma Roberts, MS.,
M.B.A., Ph.D. candidate, University of Alabama-Birmingham
Hospitals
and healthcare systems are facing increased financial difficulties
because of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and managed care. As
a result, healthcare executives face the challenge of reducing costs
while maintaining quality patient care. One of the strategic tools
healthcare executives use to meet this challenge is outsourcing.
Even though outsourcing has many benefits, outsourcing will fail
if not man-aged successfully. Senior executives must choose outsourcing
managers who have the necessary leadership capabilities. Managing
outsourcing requires an under-standing of outsourcing strategy,
the benefits and risks of outsourcing the evalu-ation process, and
the methods to managing strategically. With appropriate man-agement,
strategic outsourcing should provide healthcare executives with
a viable strategy for controlling costs and maintaining quality
patient care.
Executive
Summary: The Adoption of Complementary and Alternative Medicine by
Hospitals: A Framework for Decision Making Coleen F. Santa Ana, James
Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia
As
a result of increased consumer awareness, personal preference, and
limitations of conventiona1 medicine, many individuals are turning
to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). In response to
this movement, many community hospitals are striving to be innovative
providers. Society is leaning toward a more comprehensive style
of healing that incorporates all aspects of wellness. During the
last three decades, the public has increasingIy used CAM. Arnold
(1999) cited a study published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association that reported 39 million people sought either advice
or treatment from a CAM provider and 42 percent of Americans used
some form of alternative therapy. With the population be-coming
increasingly educated, aware, and proactive about wellness, many
Americans see CAM as an effective alternative to traditional medicine.
Healthcare organizations have responded, although slowly, to this
trend, as new alternative medicine clinics, hospital departments,
and research centers emerge throughout the United States.
Executive
Summary: Clinical Service Lines in Integrated Delivery Systems: An
Initial Framework and Exploration Victoria A. Parker, Martin P. Charns,
and Gary J. Young
The increasing
pressures on integrated healthcare delivery systems (IDSs) to pro-vide
coordinated and cost-effective care focuses attention on the question
of how best integrate across multiple sites of care. One increasingly
common approach to this issue is the development of clinical service lines
that integrate specific bundles of services across the operating units
of a system. This article presents a conceptual model of service lines
and reports results from a descriptive investigation of service line development
among members of the Industry Advisory Board-a research consortium comprising
IDSs. The experiences of these lDSs (1) provide valuable insights into
the range of organizational arrangements and implementa-tion issues that
are associated with service line management in healthcare systems and
(2) suggest aspects of service line management worthy of further inquiry.
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