Reengineering Primary Health Care for Information and Communication Technology

Abstract

Health care organizations are increasingly looking towards information and communication technology to make fundamental changes for quality improvement. Despite numerous potential benefits, the integration of information and communication technology in health care is still hampered by various barriers, including impacts on workflow. This work examines how business processes in primary health care can be reengineered to accommodate the use of information and communications technology by developing a comprehensive process model of primary care, examining the impacts of ICTs on these processes and determining changes in workflow to optimise benefits. Using discrete‐event modeling and simulation, we demonstrate a reduction in the utilization of resources, an increase in appointment attendance, and a cost benefit from the use of selected information and communication technologies in the patient care process. This work contributes to research on reengineering primary care by identifying ways to leverage the capabilities of information and communication technology through process redesign.