Publisher's Synopsis
Current plans for health care services are based on changing average length of stay. Yet, the complex intercare of acute rehabilitation and long stay cannot be adequately represented by a simple average. The National Health Service hospital system has now been restructured with a purchase provider system. This brings the discipline of the market place to health care, thus facilitating the provision of cost-effective service. To do this scientifically, valid methods to evaluate health care options must be employed.;The problems associated with data collection and analysis in hospitals are discussed from the point of view of a health service manager, a director of social services and a clinician. Following this, a model which describes hospital patient flow as consisting of different compartments is developed. Finally, the use of the model is associated in general and geriatric medicine, out-patient clinics, day hospitals and home-help services.;Purchasers and providers of health services should find the book useful as an aid to understanding and evaluating the complexity of service provision. Business managers and clinicians in the provider units should find a method of quantifying the work being done. Technicians in information technology should benefit from gaining greater understanding of the type of decision support that could be usefully incorporated in their health management information systems.
