ABSTRACT
This chapter examines various aspects of performance enhancement in the domain of health care. It uses case studies from the UK – but many are replicated in international locations. In many ways, most activity in the clinical domain relates to the application of clinical expertise and technologies to realise effective, efficient and efficacious health care. These activities may relate to the prevention of illness, interventions to ‘treat’ an ailment and bring about recovery from it and to facilitate coping strategies – if the clinical condition is chronic or enduring. The use of computing technologies, tools and solutions has become an important intervention within a wide range of medical, clinical and care contexts. This chapter examines the effectiveness and efficiency of clinical activities (from a patient’s perspective) and also explores the management of health processes to support clinical practice.
