Health services under siege: the case for clinical process redesign

Brand, Caroline A; Cameron, Peter A; Greenberg, Peter B; Scott, Ian A

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2008.tb02008.x

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To the Editor: In regard to your recent supplement dedicated to clinical process redesign in health care,1 we support the need to learn from other industries, but have concerns about an exclusive focus on process redesign to improve the quality and safety of health care for patients.

1 Clinical Epidemiology and Health Service Evaluation Unit, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, VIC.
2 Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC.
3 Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, QLD.

Correspondence: Caroline.Brand@mh.org.au

1. Health services under siege: the case for clinical process redesign. Med J Aust 2008; 188 (6 Suppl): S1-S40. <MJA full text>
2. Psaty BM, Lumley T. Surrogate end points and FDA approval: a tale of 2 lipid-altering drugs. JAMA 2008; 299: 1474-1476.
3. O’Connell TJ, Bassham JE, Bishop RO, et al. Clinical process redesign for unplanned arrivals in hospitals. Med J Aust 2008; 188 (6 Suppl): S18-S22. <MJA full text>
4. MacLellan DG, Cregan PC, McCaughan BC, et al. Applying clinical process redesign methods to planned arrivals in New South Wales hospitals. Med J Aust 2008; 188 (6 Suppl): S23-S26. <MJA full text>
5. Reddy, M, Gill SS, Rochon PA. Preventing pressure ulcers: a systematic review. JAMA 2006; 296: 974-984.
6. Ben-Tovim DI, Bassham JE, Bennett DM, et al. Redesigning care at the Flinders Medical Centre: clinical process redesign using “lean thinking”. Med J Aust 2008; 188 (6 Suppl): S27-S31. <MJA full text>
7. Going lean in health care. IHI Innovation Series white paper. Cambridge, Mass: Institute for Healthcare Improvement, 2005: 1-20.

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