Because the Medical University Hospital Authority and MUSC system are part of the U.S. health care system as well as the university-hospital system, we thought a brief review of systems theories might be helpful to put the changes we are currently enduring into a larger perspective. The following very brief overview is meant to show that our human reactions to change in a system are rather predictable. A set of objects together with relationships between the objects and between their attributes. A natural social system which responds automatically to forces which threaten its survival or well-being or those of its members.
Systems can be open or closed.
Open systems with permeable boundaries are more apt to stay dynamic and flourish, or at least continue to function. In general systems theory a change in one part of the system affects all other parts, due to relationships and interdependence of the parts. Input generates energy for the open system. Oil is put in. Heat is put out.