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When coupled with a computerized patient order entry (CPOE) system to inform the selection of drugs and appropriate treatment, PHS health care professionals were now positioned to target more specific therapies for their patients, to identify the most effective, low-cost options among potential treatment strategies and to draw on a vast body of experience-based knowledge across the network to inform patient care. .
Statement of the Problem.
A number of high profile failed collaborative efforts have been well documented. These failures have been costly in economic as well as human terms. Even so, as health care organizations continue to struggle with the financial realities of today's health care market, it is likely that some form of collaboration will continue to be a popular option chosen by the leadership of these .
organizations in an effort to compete for improved profitability (through decreased costs and increased productivity), market power, service delivery, and overall efficiency. In seeking to apply the political and business solution of collaborative arrangements, have health care managers understood the importance of the human factor. Have they applied this understanding to add value to the new system? How has such collaboration affected the originating organizations? What have been the processes involved? What are the organizational changes that have occurred? When have collaborative efforts been effective? The answers to these questions are critical for health care leaders if they are to succeed in their quest to address the public's mandate for decreased costs, along with improved service delivery and efficiency. It is essential to provide answers to these questions, and also to provide insight into the meaning, context, and process through which a collaborative outcome is produced.
Analysis of the Situation.
As discussions continued, some of the participants were becoming restless as they felt that the initiative was not moving forward with speed sufficient to address the environmental stresses they were beginning to feel.
