Systems Based Practice

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Systems Based Practice

Business of Medicine
Author Credentials 

Lawrence M. Simon, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor
Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
LSU Health Sciences Center 
New Orleans, LA

I would like to thank Dr. Brian McKinnon, Associate Professor and Vice-Chairman of Otolaryngology at Drexel University College of Medicine, and Dr. David Roberson, Associate Professor of Otology and Laryngology and Harvard Medical School, for their assistance in preparing this module.

Module Summary

Understanding Health Care Systems and the systems that we used to run them is a complex field of study.  Understanding how these concepts relate to each other and are interwoven into the practice of medicine is critical to becoming a leader and ensuring that your patients receive the highest quality of care.  After completing this module, the physician will be able to:

  • Demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of healthcare.
  • Demonstrate the ability to effectively call on system resources to provide care that is of optimal value.
Module Learning Objectives 
  1. Define a Health Care System 
    • List key attributes of a medical system.
    • Describe what makes a system successful
    • Distinguish a Health Care System from Systems within Health Care (both relate to Systems-Based Practice)
  2. Explain why a surgeon should care about systems.
  3. Describe various types of health care delivery systems.  
    • Know the various elements of these systems, including their pros and cons
    • Know how these elements of the system affect a physician’s own practice.
  4. Recognize how types of medical practice and delivery systems differ from one another, including methods of controlling healthcare costs and allocating resources.
  5. Review how to partner with healthcare managers and healthcare providers to assess, coordinate, and improve healthcare, and know how these activities can affect system performance.
  6. Cite what, if any, is the benefit of physicians studying systems literature that is derived from studies of other areas (e.g., industry, the military, airline industry- safety is equally important for them as it is to us).
  7. Explain system process improvement
    • Identify metrics for measuring success
    • Methods of identifying problems and producing solutions
      • Checklists
      • Sentinnel event analysis
      • Communication trees
      • Uniformity
    • Importance of feedback
    • Importance of standardization
Topics 
Resources 

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  1. Annual Meeting Webcast (AMW):