Issues and
Opportunities… Complexity science, especially in biology and computer
simulations, informs us about the natural evolution of large systems:
for example, ecosystems and "colonies." There are discernable, large-scale
patterns. Learning is collective and is passed on. How do groups and
peer networks of health care professionals learn together? Can collaborative
learning in healthcare be accelerated if we take complexity-informed
approaches?
There Are
Many Examples in Healthcare For Hindsight Reflection… We have
not had much discussion on this topic beyond its introduction on the
listserv. But improvement collaboratives are becoming very popular
in healthcare. (Plsek has published two articles summarizing the literature
on improvement collaboratives in healthcare.)
As with the
neural nets topic, it could be that our contribution on this topic
is to survey the literature and current experience with collaboratives,
and then re-look at these through a complexity lens. Such a view might
lead to insights into ways to make these collaboratives even more
effective. Steve Larned has begun this reflection process with regards
to the Northern New England Cardiovascular Study Group. .
Ultimate
Goal of This Line of Thinking… To contribute to this emerging
improvement technology from a complexity perspective.
