Managing Complex Processes: Making Order Out of Chaos

Abstract

Complex processes and systems are inherently unruly, as already discussed in Part II. Individuals and organizations that exist in such environments must either manage complexity, or their performance will be degraded by it. The complexity of health care has exploded in the last 50-plus years, as the Institute of Medicine has documented, and as described in Part I. More often than not, performance degradation has outpaced management of complexity in the financing and delivery of health care, leading to high costs and suboptimal results.