Introduction

Abstract

Health systems worldwide are in the midst of a major transition marked by aging populations, with associated increases in utilization of healthcare services; care costs that are rapidly and significantly outpacing inflation and available resources; widespread demand for better care experiences and better outcomes; and a growing incidence of burnout and disengagement by both clinical and administrative care staff. In order to tackle these challenges, transformed care delivery needs to become a shared outcome of the integration of many different actors. This integration when occurring within organizational boundaries and also in closely structured network relationships continues to receive considerable attention. However, the challenge of care integration across organizational boundaries and among potentially competing, historically non-collaborating, or simply non-participating, entities is the focus of this particular work—the design of integrated care ecosystems. In that context, the question raised is how information, human and financial resources, activities, the skills and the values of those different sovereign and unique organizations, independent care providers, informal care givers, and patients can be combined to achieve a result that none of the parties concerned can achieve independently.