ATIHBC Module 2 - Hospital Structure & Culture: Understanding the Hospital System

Course overview

In this class, students will be introduced to the three main power structures that drive administrative and clinical decision-making in a hospital. These are institutional accreditation, including different types of standards that hospitals must meet depending on their financial structure and payer mix; internal chains of command including executive/administrative, medical and nursing; and the evidence-based guidelines for clinical practice which guide inpatient care across disciplines. 'Systems-based practices' situates how ones own clinical care relates to the hospital system for a given patient. This is a competency required for all physicians and other hospital-based health care providers including LIPs. Class handouts include background reading on key points of evidence-based practice and systems-based practice, as well as illustrations and explanations of hospital command structures, how a hospital guides staff to survive accreditation visits by The Joint Commission (TJC) and Department of Health (DOH).