Health care reform: opportunities for professional chaplains to build intentional communities of learners by integrating faith, science, quality, and systems thinking.

Albert Einstein once said, "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them" (www.brainyquote.com). Health care reform has brought professional chaplains to a place of chaos-a place that raises many questions about the past, present and future. This chaos presents tremendous opportunities for professional chaplains to increase their capacities in building intentional communities of learners by integrating faith, science, quality and systems thinking. Pastoral care givers must truly understand the pressures from all sides and the new emerging paradigm of integrated health care delivery. Without this understanding, we will not see the opportunities and challenges of integrating pastoral and spiritual care in the emerging structures and systems. The future of chaplaincy largely will depend on the quality of the data, quality of our conversations and our ability to thinking together through dialogue.