Applying Complexity Theory to a Hospital Complex Patient Care Program
Increasingly, complexity science concepts are informing health care design and practice. The present paper describes the implementation of early complexity science principles in a Complex Care Program with the aim of strengthening the provision of integrated care. Grounded in cybernetic network theory, Stafford Beer’s Viable Systems Model provided the guiding principles for the program’s redesign. The Viable Systems Model with its broadly applicable principles, is now the conceptual model of information management in the program. Beer’s framework has enabled a relatively small number of clinicians to coordinate care for a large cohort of patients with significant clinical complexity, and a multitude of providers, in the community setting.