Reorganizing Departments of Psychiatry, Hospitals, and Medical Centers for the 21st century

Market forces are reshaping health care, transforming it from a public service into a product that is sold in a highly competitive marketplace. This transformation has been particularly disruptive for hospital departments of psychiatry and medical centers that were the early targets for managed care efforts at cost containment. To survive, health care institutions have embarked on a clinical and administrative re-engineering process. The author describes a series of steps for reconfiguring departments, hospitals, and medical centers as they enter the 21st century. The steps include identifying the leadership team, formulating a mission statement and strategic plan, creating a legal entity capable of achieving the organization's goals, drawing up an organizational chart, and developing the provider network. Other steps in the process include enhancing the continuum of services offered, developing administrative capability, dealing with managed care, paying attention to fundamental business practices, integrating psychiatric services into the health care system, and marketing psychiatric services.