AUDIE G. LEWIS is president and chief executive officer of Audie Lewis Consulting, Inc., a national research and consulting firm specializing in cost cutting, business improvement, supply chain analysis, and Internet projection and growth for the health care industry. He is the author of the best-seller The Year 2000 Health Care Survival Guide.

"New times demand new thinking, not cosmetic Band-Aids. Audie Lewis clearly has his finger on the pulse of the new economy and of today's health care industry. He is a true pioneer in his field and his ideas are innovative, principled and soundly pragmatic: they work." --Dr. Stephen R. Covey, best-selling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and chairman, Covey Leadership Center "I recommend this thoughtful and innovative book to those who care about the American health care system-both in Washington, D.C. and around the country. As we continue to seek ways to improve the efficiency and quality of health care delivery in America, sometimes we look past the kinds of innovative approaches examined in Streamlining Health Care Operations. Audie Lewis's book is an important contribution to this debate." --The Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House of Representatives, United States of America "Audie Lewis's examples from health care and other industries and his thought-provoking questions will assist senior executives as they consider how to increase operational efficiencies and improve the care they deliver." --Glenn Pearson, executive vice president, GHA: An Association of Hospital and Health Systems "A guide for the health care executive needing to provide quality care with resources stretched to the limit." --Joe W. Smith, chief executive officer, National Healthcare Logistics "After reading this book, health care executives and managers have no excuse for not launching massive efforts aimed at organizational streamlining." --Dean C. Coddington, senior consultant, McManis Consulting, Denver, Colorado

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbout the Author1 Introduction 12 The Value of the Employee 93 Access: An Elusive Paradox 234 Quality: A Systematic Approach 375 Creativity: An Environment for Exponential Growth 536 Human Resources: The Critical Component 677 Purchasing: A Dynamic Model 838 Strategic Technology Assessment: Not Just an Acquisition 1119 Utilization Management Within Technology Assessment 12710 Equipment Service: Balancing Quality and Control 14311 Major Projects: Cost-Effective Expansion and Growth 16712 Reimbursement and the Business Office: Functions for Success 18713 Consultants: Less Is More 20314 Special Concerns: Drive Out Waste 215Recommended Readings 237Index 239