Complexity and Healthcare. Part Won.

Complexity quotes and links.
What Is Complexity?
http://www.prototista.org/E-Zine/WhatisComplexity.htm
According to Jim Begun- Complexity science is a way health-care professionals are looking at their systems for understanding and improvement. Complexity Science encourages healthcare leaders to work with, rather than against, overwhelming complexity by focusing on relationship building, organizational values and culture, and widespread participation, rather than tight integration, formalization, and centralizeddecision-making. The leader serves the organization by making sense of a complex world, rather than providing neat answers that promise success. JIM BEGUN, PH.D Introduction to the Basic Concepts of Complexity Science http://www.codynamics.net/intro.htm

Some more excerpts on what it is all about: Complexity views all groups of living creatures, including people in organizations, as complex adaptive systems.
A system is a group of two or more parts which interact to function as a whole. Complex groups of living things and their behaviors are complicated. Adaptive living systems constantly adapt to their changing environments.
Feedback Impacts Systems. This occurs in two forms: balancing, which keeps the system stable by limiting change (like a thermostat), and reinforcing, which intensifies the change or activity.)Emergence
Complex living systems exhibit behaviors and characteristics that are different from the behaviors and characteristics of the parts or members.
Self-Organization
People naturally recognize their interdependence and work together to accomplish shared goals or tasks. They do not always have to be told what to do.
Powerful Attractors
As a complex system adapts to its environment, a preferred state or way of doing things is discovered, and the whole system converges on that pattern.

BMJ has several articles by paul plsekhttp://bmj.bmjjournals.com/searchall/all

Plsek PE, Wilson T. Complexity, leadership, and management in healthcare organisations.BMJ. 2001 Sep 29;323(7315):746-9.Plsek PE, Greenhalgh T.Complexity science: The challenge of complexity in health care.BMJ. 2001 Sep 15;323(7313):625-8.

New England Complex Systems Institute COMPLEX SYSTEMS IN SCIENCE AND SOCIETY:Healthcare/Medical System ( there are some interesting papers on this site)http://necsi.org/cxworld/healthcare.html

Plexus Institute uses complexity theory to improve healthcare http://www.plexusinstitute.com/

Complexity Science and Analysis of Health Care Delivery Systems http://order.ph.utexas.edu/McDaniel.pdf

Evidence Based Health Services: An Introduction to Complexity Thinking www.liv.ac.uk/ccr/conferences/Oct1_NHScomplex_conf.pdf

Leadership and Transformation Require a Taste for Complexity http://www.physiciancareerventures.com/physician_leader_complexity.htm

Conference on Complexity and Health Care The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation http://www.rwjf.org/reports/grr/032705s.htm

Book- COMPLEXITY AND HEALTHCARE an introduction. Edited by Kieran Sweeney and Frances Griffiths http://www.radcliffe-oxford.com/books/bookdetail.asp?ISBN=1+85775+559+6