Once
Upon a Trend…
It's
often difficult to discern a fad from a trend. Even trends are fleeting,
especially in the health care industry -- and particularly among
organizations who are striving to identify and secure their position in
the health care delivery system. Like all industries, health care goes
through cycles, e.g., Expansion/ Consolidation, and Centralization/
Decentralization. Presented below are some of the themes, management
practices, and industry buzzwords that characterize the prevailing trends
of their day.
Some trends persist, even as new ones gain more
prominence. While a few trends seem to repeat unchanged, most reemerge
with new variations, or perhaps, just new packaging. Some trends are
clearly history; UCR charges and cost-shifting aren't likely to stage a
comeback. In other cases, trends represent a major departure from those
that preceded it.
Trends are a reflection of our value system as
well as the zeitgeist of their era. They set the acceptable norms; they
define the behaviors and beliefs that dominate our industry and our
culture. As some of the items on the list illustrate, time is merely a
continuum, not a calendar. That is, the cycle repeats; old becomes new and
the future resembles the past. Thus, "Yesterday" may, in fact, be
"Tomorrow" or "The Day After."
Most health care organizations are likely to be
operating at different points for different measures; rare is the
organization completely entrenched in the past or wholly invested in the
future.
