Finding Economies of Scale and Coordination of Care along the Continuum to Achieve True System Integration

Abstract

Is it time to reduce hospitals and replace them with digitally enabled distributed specialty service delivery channels that focus on ambulatory care, urgent care, and patient reactivation? Is delivery system integration immaterial if care is standardized and supported by integrated information systems? Maybe Lean methodology needs to be applied across the entire delivery systems, not just within its component functions and processes. Comments are offered on each of these perspectives.