A recent trend in the literature has been to characterize healthcare activities in terms of complex systems theory. Complexity has often been loosely and variously defined, with meanings ranging from "not simple" to "complicated" to "intractable." In this paper, we consider various aspects of complexity and how they relate to modern healthcare practice, with the aim of developing research approaches for studying complex healthcare environments. We propose a theoretical lens for understanding and studying complexity in healthcare systems based on degrees of interrelatedness of system components. We also describe, with relevant caveats, how complex healthcare systems are generally decomposable, rendering them more tractable for further study. The ideas of interrelatedness among the components of a system as a measure of complexity and functional decomposition as a mechanism for studying meaningful subcomponents of a complex system can be used as a framework for understanding complex healthcare systems. Using examples drawn from current literature and our own research, we explain the feasibility of this approach for understanding, studying, and managing complex healthcare systems.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2011.06.006 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Interventions to Maintain HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Service Delivery During Public Health Emergencies in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Protocol for a Systematic Review.
JMIR Res Protoc
January 2025
Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Background: Although existing disease preparedness and response frameworks provide guidance about strengthening emergency response capacity, little attention is paid to health service continuity during emergency responses. During the 2014 Ebola outbreak, there were 11,325 reported deaths due to the Ebola virus and yet disruption in access to care caused more than 10,000 additional deaths due to measles, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. Low- and middle-income countries account for the largest disease burden due to HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria and yet previous responses to health emergencies showed that HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria service delivery can be significantly disrupted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBuilding a Digital Health Research Platform to Enable Recruitment, Enrollment, Data Collection, and Follow-Up for a Highly Diverse Longitudinal US Cohort of 1 Million People in the All of Us Research Program: Design and Implementation Study.
J Med Internet Res
January 2025
Vibrent Health, Inc, Fairfax, VA, United States.
Background: Longitudinal cohort studies have traditionally relied on clinic-based recruitment models, which limit cohort diversity and the generalizability of research outcomes. Digital research platforms can be used to increase participant access, improve study engagement, streamline data collection, and increase data quality; however, the efficacy and sustainability of digitally enabled studies rely heavily on the design, implementation, and management of the digital platform being used.
Objective: We sought to design and build a secure, privacy-preserving, validated, participant-centric digital health research platform (DHRP) to recruit and enroll participants, collect multimodal data, and engage participants from diverse backgrounds in the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) All of Us Research Program (AOU).
From Theory to Practice: Viewpoint on Economic Indicators for Trust in Digital Health.
J Med Internet Res
January 2025
Department of Health Services Research Management, AI and Digital Health Lab (Centre for Healthcare Innovation Research), City St George's University, London, United Kingdom.
User trust is pivotal for the adoption of digital health systems interventions (DHI). In response, numerous trust-building guidelines have recently emerged targeting DHIs such as artificial intelligence. The common aim of these guidelines aimed at private sector actors and government policy makers is to build trustworthy DHI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPatient-Centered mHealth Intervention to Improve Self-Care in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure: Phase 1 Randomized Controlled Trial.
J Med Internet Res
January 2025
Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, United States.
Background: Heart failure (HF) is one of the most common causes of hospital readmission in the United States. These hospitalizations are often driven by insufficient self-care. Commercial mobile health (mHealth) technologies, such as consumer-grade apps and wearable devices, offer opportunities for improving HF self-care, but their efficacy remains largely underexplored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTransgender people and travestis experiencing homelessness in Salvador: a descriptive study on sociodemographic profile and access to social assistance and health services, Brazil, 2021 and 2022.
Epidemiol Serv Saude
January 2025
Universidade Federal da Bahia, Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Salvador, BA, Brasil.
Objective: To describe the sociodemographic profile and access to social assistance and health services among trans people and travestis experiencing homelessness in Salvador, the capital city of Bahia state.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 24 (4.5%) participants who identified as trans people or travestis out of a total of 529 people, aged 18 or older, living in public spaces or institutional shelters included in the survey.
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!