CONCEPTUAL-FRAMEWORK FOR CLINICAL AND GENERAL-MANAGEMENT

The UK has more than five years experience of the introduction of pati ent based management information systems into acute hospitals. These s ystems support the measurement of activity, process of care and cost o f care allowing linkage of management processes of the hospital to dir ect treatment and care of individual patients. An implicit 'product' m odel for acute hospital care underlies these systems. When considering the management information needs of community health providers, the l imitations of this model became apparent and highlighted the need for a more general model. The paper suggests such a model, not only approp riate for community care but also a better model for hospital services .