Management restructuring: toward a leaner organization.

The drive to create integrated delivery networks has given even further momentum to management restructuring. Through centralization of decision making within networks, speed and flexibility are needed to make the difficult modifications required to achieve standardization and general overhead savings. Two hospitals, Carondelet St. Mary's and Carondelet St. Joseph's merged under a single administrative team and one Vice President of Patient Care Services. Outcomes of this restructuring were monetary savings, but also learning how to plan and carry out major management restructuring. The values, the process and the outcomes one year post implementation, and the keys to success in the management restructuring effort are the subjects of this article.