Decision Analysis for Healthcare Managers

Should we invest in a new electronic health record system? What public policy should we develop to tackle this health issue? What are the root causes for medical errors in our facility? Should our hospital merge with another organization?

This book will help you build the skills you need to answer complex management and policy questions.

The first part of the book explains the various analytical tools that simplify and accelerate decision making. Learn about tools that help you determine causes, evaluate choices, and forecast future events. For occasions when a group, rather than an individual, has to make a decision, you will also learn what tools can help you create group consensus.

The second half of the book shows you how to apply analytical tools to different healthcare situations, including comparing clinician performance, determining the causes for medical errors, analyzing the costs of programs, and determining the market for new services. Many practical examples walk you step-by-step through common decision-making scenarios.

About the Authors

Farrokh Alemi, Ph.D., is a professor of health administration and policy in the College of Health and Human Services at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. His research focuses on the use of decision analysis in both individual and organizational change. His research on individual change focuses on structural life changes and on monitored self-experimentation to tailor prescriptions and healthcare interventions. His research on organizational changes includes online management of patients; cost-effectiveness analysis, root-cause anlysis of sentinel events such as terroism; and physician practice profiling, for which he holds a pending patent on measuring episodes of illness. He has founded and served on the boards of TelePractice, Inc. and Interpractice, Inc., both of which focus on the online management of patients.

David H. Gustafson, Ph.D., is a research professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, director of the Center of Excellence in Cancer Communications funded by the National Cancer Institute, and director of the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the federal government's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. He is also coleading a new Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program to implement evidence-based practices in addiction treatment agencies and state governments. His research focuses on the use of systems engineering methods and models in individual and organizational change.