ABSTRACT
Health care provider organizations typically identify themselves as systems. There are disease management systems, patient care management systems, and information systems. But anyone who has had any involvement with US health care at any level understands that there is little that fits the definition of a system as "a regularly interacting or independent group of items forming a unified whole." Health care wasn't always this complex. Going back to the early part of the eighteenth century, health care consisted of various home remedies and itinerant doctors with little science-based training. Patients are often unclear as to why they're being referred to a given speciality physicans, or how to navigate the care process after being seen by a specialist. Huge dollars have been spent by the US government to incent hospitals and health professionals to meaningfully use electronic health records and participate in health information exchanges.
