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In the late 20th century, the management of care came under the control of large health care conglomerates, like the Carilion Health System in Roanoke, Virginia. This study examines the evolution of Carilion from its beginning in 1988 to the present and analyzes Carilion as a complex system by using analytical tools drawn from a variety of STS scholars. Carilion's mission began with its hospitals. From 1954-1988, Carilion's predecessor, the Roanoke Hospital Association, developed a network for delivering care, training programs and management to small community hospitals throughout southwest Virginia. In 1988, the Roanoke Hospital Association was officially renamed the Carilion Health System. In its initial phase, 1988-1992, Carilion expanded its hospital network into as many communities as possible. The thesis of this work is that Carilion and communities came together to see if they could build a corporation to manage care and, at the same time, maintain local traditions of care. From 1992-1996, Carilion transformed itself from a hospital organization to a health care system and finally to a managed care system in order to compete with rival Columbia/HCA. This transformation required the creation of a physician management company and a health plans division. In 1995, Carilion's administrators began a reengineering program which redefined services and strategies for corporate growth. This included construction of a state-of-the-art facility situated between two competing Columbia/HCA hospitals in the New River Valley. In 1998-2000, Carilion engaged in a massive advertising blitz to garner additional market share from Columbia/HCA. Carilion's marketing strategies show that health care has changed dramatically under a business model, in spite of corporate America's assurances that it would not. This study gives voice to health care workers who describe exactly how their experiences have changed since corporations, such as Carilion, began managing their work. Drawing on interviews with Carilion physicians, hospital administrators, board members and medical staffs, the day-to-day activities taking place within hospitals and physician practices comes to life. The narrations describe how difficult it is for groups working within Carilion's facilities to carry out Carilion's growth strategies while at the same time maintaining communities' traditions of care. Since 1999, Carilion moved in three new directions: the creation of the Carilion Biomedical Institute incorporating biotechnology and biomedicine; the institution of a hospital partial-ownership program, which meant Carilion did not have to assume full ownership and expenses of some facilities; and the installation of an electronic medical records system in physician practices to manage patients' data, physicians' costs and physicians' productivity. These new directions illustrate how Carilion envisions a different paradigm of care delivery. While the study addresses how Carilion became a managed care organization, this work represents foremost an analysis of system building in America today. Like most corporate systems, Carilion exemplifies a mix of social, economic and technological components that have been assembled to form a corporate entity. This work explains how corporate systems come to manage traditions, values and resources within communities and for communities. / Ph. D.

This thesis address one of the most important topics for the human being; health. Specifically, the research is about the deficiencies of the health system in Mexico. This paper shows the importance, how the system works and its current situation in the country. The purpose of this research is, based on the Pareto principle (20% vs 80%), to find how to solve most problems with the least possible investment.   It was found that the common denominator in the problems was the process and flow of information of the patients; specifically, the health records. The researchers address the issue at first explaining in a deep way the health records to highlight their importance in the health care system. In order to corroborate this finding in the literature; The researchers designed an interview, which was applied to physicians from the two main health institutions in Mexico in order to collect the necessary information to develop the thesis.   Since the design of the research is qualitative; the necessary social context is given to be able to understand the analysis and the results; likewise, the authors explain in detail the methodology used.   In spite of other important factors that were found such as the lack of results despite the investment and deficiencies in the infrastructure; It was concluded that, in fact, most of the problems were derived from the problems of health records. These results are important because it gives a parameter of what must be corrected first in order to have the expected results and a better health system.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2005. / Prepared for: Dept. of Health Administration. Bibliography: leaves 202-251. Also available online.

abstract: Social media sites focusing on health-related topics are rapidly gaining popularity among online health consumers, also known as "e-patients". The increasing adoption of social media by e-patients and their demand for reliable health information has prompted several health care organizations (HCOs) to establish their social media presence. HCOs are using social media to connect with current and potential e-patients, and improve patient education and overall quality of care. A significant benefit for HCOs in using social media could potentially be the improvement of their quality of care, as perceived by patients. Perceived quality of care is a key determinant of patients' experience and satisfaction with health care services, and has been a major focus of research. However, there is very little research on the relationship between patients' online social media experience and their perceived quality of care. The objective of this research was to evaluate e-patients' online experience with an HCO's social media sites and examine its impact on their perceived quality of care. Research methodology included a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Data for this study was collected from Mayo Clinic's social media sites through an online survey. Descriptive statistics were used to identify basic demographic profiles of e-patients. Linear regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between online experience and perceived quality of care. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Results showed a positive relationship between online experience and perceived quality of care. Qualitative data provided information about e-patients' attitudes and expectations from healthcare social media. Overall, results yielded insights on design and management of social media sites for e-patients, and integration of these online applications in the health care delivery process. This study is of value to HCOs, health communicators and social media designers, and will also serve as a foundation for subsequent studies in the area of health care social media. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S.D. Design 2011

The objective of the diploma thesis is to study the systems of health care and hygienic prevention in České Budějovice from the second half of the 19th century to the end of the Second World War on the basis of an analysis of still existing archival materials concerning health care issues. The thesis also includes an inventory of selected archival documents, a diagram related to health care administration on the national level and pictorial materials. The diploma thesis is divided to two extensive sections, the first of which deals with the organisation of the health care system on the national level, summarizing the knowledge obtained from literature from the reforms introduced by Maria Theresia and Joseph the Second till the communist putsch in 1948. The content of these chapters covers legislation of the public health care system, the history of the Faculty of Medicine in Prague, and development of social care in the studied period. The other section already focuses on the city of České Budějovice and the organisation of the health care system managed by local authorities. Individual subchapters deal with public bodies participating in organisation of the medical care in the city and continuous improvement of the state of health of local population. This includes activities of the municipal committee and the health council and health commission attached to the municipal committee, obligations of doctors and other medical staff appointed by the municipal authority, and also the history of the hospital in České Budějovice and other medical and health and social institutions. The antiepidemic work of the aforementioned bodies and the process of improvement of the city for the benefit of health of population in České Budějovice are also reconstructed in the thesis on the basis of still existing sources. The last subchapter deals with funeral administration with emphasis put on newly developing cremation which was very difficult to promote at the beginning of the 20th century. For illustration purposes, the annex section presents three diagrams of development of the state health care system as it was changing in the course of time, furthermore, a thematic inventory of the documented archival materials and selected photographs of the time for illustration.