Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #111977

Jon M. Thompson, PhD, Department of Health Sciences, James Madison University, MSC 4301, 3134 HHS Building, Harrisonburg, VA 22807, 540/568-3472, thompsjm@jmu.edu and Michael C. Boblitz, BS, Planning and Marketing, Martha Jefferson Hospital, 459 Locust Avenue, Charlottesville, VA 22902.

After a lull during the 1990s, more and more community hospitals are embracing a service line management approach for selected services within their facilities. Service line management was adapted for use in health services organizations and follows the product line management approaches developed for business and manufacturing firms. According to the recent literature, the service line management approach and the development of “Centers of Excellence” have emerged in response to several pressures in the health services industry: increasing competition among hospitals, expansion of hospital systems, pressures to manage costs and revenues, increased requirements to focus on outcomes and quality of care, and growing expectations of consumers. Many services currently offered by community hospitals through a service line approach were previously available only at academic medical centers. Service line management decisions must be made carefully by administrators, yet the benefits that accrue to a community hospital may be significant. This paper reviews the current interest of community hospitals in service line management, discusses the expected benefits of using a service line management approach, identifies the steps in assessing feasibility of establishing a center of excellence, and shows, through the use of case study data, how decisions on the feasibility of setting up a service line management/center of excellence approach can be made. Application of the model by health departments and public health programs in establishing local and regional service line management approaches will also be discussed. Conclusions and implications will be presented.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, the participant will be able to

• define service line management and how it is currently being offered in community hospitals
• know the benefits that result from a service line management approach
• understand the steps in assessing feasibility for a service line management approach
• apply the model to public health departments and understand practice implications

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.