If you were in business school during the 1970s, you probably a disciple of one of the latest trends in the management of this epoch-the online product marketing. Procter & Gamble and General Electric led the way, sharing the wisdom of thinking from the perspective of the customer and the organization Company accordingly. Graduates of the leading MBA programs soon began to covet the work assistant brand manager, hoping that would put executives to orchestrate the work of sales, manufacturing, and other functional areas to meet the needs of its customers. Brand leadership that once reigned supreme within our most respected companies.

If you have studied the health management a little later, say the early and mid 1980s, you probably captivated by the concept of service line management, the counterpart of health over the thought of the product line. Almost did not seem a big leap. By then, thinking about the product line was no longer unique, it was omnipresent. It worked. The logic behind the lines of health services was similar and convincing.

That was 25 years ago, and still struggles with health care service lines. A few hospitals and health systems have made the conversion with aplomb and it is obvious to many consumers that these hospitals to think differently. However, some health leaders still question whether it is a good idea. Most are somewhere in between tried and failed or are still trying it.

Are we so different from other sectors? It is the service line thinking of an idea so complicated? In some ways yes, but probably not to the degree that often like to think. And as with most practices not work over a long period of time, but remain attractive, what separates winners from losers is less a matter of sophistication and intelligence, and more often a question of commitment to fundamental principles.

For service lines, the fundamental principles are skillful leadership, clear objectives and accountability, and results measurement. These are the areas where we get stuck.

Skilled leadership

No is difficult to imagine that when a company undergoes a transformation from being functionally LED (ie, manufacture or sell) the product line that took a strong leadership could overcome years if not decades, of a retrograde model of leadership that is threatened by the new management.

Thus, imagine that this has happened in a hypothetical consumer products company, where the leading soap powder called Brand X. We would be surprised if the new leadership Brand X product line was, in effect, a committee with representatives from manufacturing, sales and other disciplines, leading the charge and work in a way that looked more like a group work of a team of executives.

Alternatively, you would be surprised if a single executive law school graduate asked to take on this demanding role of the product line, down, the veterans in the manufacturing industry and "listísimo" sales representatives.

But somehow, in health care, which too often has been our approach triumvirates doctors, nurses and administrators, or newly minted MBA / MHA rates. And in some cases, due largely to the support of CEO and / or a supportive culture, which have worked (at least the triumvirate model).

HealthLine: Information Access for Community Health Workers in Developing Regions