Re-engineering healthcare: computer tools support the definition and analysis of work at the Vanderbilt University Hospital and Clinic.

In November 1993 The Vanderbilt University Hospital and Clinic (VUH/TVC) convened a 10-member Collaborative Organization Design (COD) team comprised of a multi-disciplinary team representing a diagonal slice through the organization. This team, lead by Gelinas * James, Inc. a consulting firm specializing in restructuring, was charged to develop, recommend, and implement a new organizational design that would promote stronger patient focus, increased efficiency, and lower cost. The COD process is structured to inspire and enable employees to rebuild their organization to respond to the challenges and opportunities that exist within their environment, to customer needs, and their own aspirations. This manuscript presents an overview of (1) the computer tools developed and/or employed to support the re-engineering process, and (2) the findings obtained as the work of patient care was defined and analyzed at VUH/TVC.