Defining the role of University of Kentucky HealthCare in its medical market--how strategic planning creates the intersection of good public policy and good business practices.

In response both to national pressures to reduce costs and improve health care access and outcomes and to local pressures to become a top-20 public research university, the University of Kentucky moved toward an integrated clinical enterprise, UK HealthCare, to create a common vision, shared goals, and an effective decision-making process. The leadership formed the vision and then embarked on a comprehensive and coordinated planning process that addressed financial, clinical, academic, and operational issues. The authors describe in depth the strategic planning process and specifically the definition of UK HealthCare's role in its medical marketplace.

Creating an integrated clinical enterprise at the University of Kentucky: the emergence of UK HealthCare.

If the medical system in the United States is to change, as has been recommended, academic medical centers must, in fact, lead this change process. To prepare for the future, the University of Kentucky decided to move aggressively toward developing an integrated clinical enterprise branded as UK HealthCare, where leadership of the various components of the academic medical center make strategic and financial decisions together to achieve common organizational goals. The authors discuss senior leadership's development of the vision for the enterprise and the governance structure that was established to engage board members and faculty of the institution.

The U.S. health care system is in crisis: implications for academic medical centers and their missions.

The medical care system in the United States is in crisis. Health care costs are escalating and threatening coverage for millions of people. Concerns about the quality of care and patient safety are heightening; patients and payers now publicly share these concerns and want to make providers more accountable.