INTO DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION - HEARING AND MEETING II
In the same way we face major societal challenges in healthcare cost, quality, and
access, individual HDOs face equally complex and demanding challenges. The envi-
ronment is extremely complex, influenced by constantly shifting political, social, tech-
nical, and financial trends. U.S. healthcare provides fragmented services that include
simultaneously competitive and cooperative participants. For example, in many hos-
pitals the physicians who admit patients function as independent contractors of the
hospital and as such are not employees of the hospital. In addition, the range of ser-
vices these physicians provide in their private practices may overlap with those offered
in the hospital so the incentives...