Decision making in a modern hospital: some theoretical and practical aspects

This paper argues that decision making procedures exhibit some common characteristics. It argues that decisions within the context of a hospital are no exception. It further argues that the formulation of a general decision making model on the one hand allows for the expedient problem solving but on the other imposes limitations which are due to the specific characteristics and the nature of each problematic case. Further it is argued that hospital operation is impossible without the knowledge of a decision making mechanism while this operation necessitates the awareness of the need to apply this mechanism on the basis of the uniqueness of the context and the individual case. Finally, it is stressed that every decision and especially decisions in the context of health care involve latent as well as explicit ethical parameters. Artificial decision supporting systems should incorporate the ethical premises into the inference model employed. Finally, decision making in hospitals will be enhanced only if it is accompanied by the education of those involved in the decision making processes in the hospital, thus, facilitating the "interrelation" between the various decision supporting systems which exist now or will be developed in the hospital context.