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21 DePaul J. Health Care L. 1 (2019-2020)

handle is hein.journals/dephcl21 and id is 1 raw text is: A Systems Thinking Approach to Health Care Reform in the United States P. Greg Gulick, Jr.*, JD, MHA, MBA Adjunct Professor Health Management Program, Michigan State University Broad College of Business Michigan State University College of Law To the extent we can even refer to an American healthcare system, it functions brilliantly ... to make money.-a Introduction It is common to use the term system to describe a series of parts working together to serve a purpose or achieve a particular goal. A computer system can be components of a single computer (hardware and software, working together) or a number of interconnected computers sharing software or networks. A combustion engine is also a system of interconnected parts working together to generate the power necessary to propel an automobile. Systems are often thought of as linear in nature with unidirectional causation; thus, Component A affects Component B which affects Component C which produces a predictable output or result. This type of system is often described as a machine, which is made up of perfectly-designed parts working together to achieve a particular output.' The phrase working together as a well-oiled machine is often used to describe a system of people (a department in a company or a sports-team) functioning well together towards a common goal. The term system is also used in the context of health care, referring to health systems both on a micro, or delivery-level, such as a health system consisting of hospitals, physicians practices, and laboratories and a macro, or national-level, such as a health system consisting of a financing mechanism, such as the government, a delivery mechanism, such as different types of providers, * Practicing healthcare attorney, telemedicine consultant, and Adjunct Professor at Michigan State University, Broad College of Business, Program in Healthcare Management and Michigan State University College of Law. The author would like to thank his daughters, Maya and Stella, and his wife, Carola, for their support and inspiration. a Ali S. Khan, Witch Doctors, Zombies, and Oracles: Rethinking Health in America, 28 HEALTH MATRIx 79 (2018). ' James W. Begun et al., Health Care Organizations as Complex Adaptive Systems, ADVANCES IN HEATH CARE ORGANIZATION THEORY 253, 253 (S.M. Mick and M. Wyttenbach eds., 2003). 1

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