| The idea of approaching healthcare more comprehensively is resurfacing in the United States. Some refer to the idea of more comprehensive healthcare as integrated healthcare. The concept of integrated healthcare involves many stakeholder groups, each likely to have its own viewpoint of what integrated healthcare entails, therefore communicating the concept of integrated healthcare more clearly is necessary. The purpose of this study was to develop a definition of the concept of integrated healthcare that might be accepted by a majority of healthcare stakeholders.;A five-phase concept analysis was conducted that included a search of the literature and personal interviews with twelve expert healthcare stakeholders. Data were analyzed and emerging themes related to the concept of integrated healthcare were recorded. A working definition of the concept of integrated healthcare which included the range of opinions of the different stakeholders was put forward.;Seven key ideas related to the concept of integrated healthcare emerged. These were: (a) multidisciplinary healthcare teams, (b) patient and family inclusion and consideration, (c) whole person treatment, (d) community service integration, (e) consideration of cost and insurance issues, (f) the medical home concept, and (g) the consideration of issues related to time. Based on the input from the expert stakeholders, the following definition of the concept was proposed: Integrated healthcare is "healthcare that is patient and family centered provided by multidisciplinary teams, coordinated by one person, with an overall consideration of cost and reimbursements, community resources, and issues related to time.";Gathering input from multiple stakeholders from different domains of healthcare produced a much broader definition of integrated healthcare than has been seen in the earlier descriptions of the concept. |
