It Takes Two to Tango: Customization and Standardization as Colluding Logics in Healthcare; Comment on “(Re) Making the Procrustean Bed Standardization and Customization as Competing Logics in Healthcare”

Abstract

<span>The healthcare context is characterized with new developments, technologies, ideas and expectations that are <span>continually reshaping the frontline of care delivery. Mannion and Exworthy identify two key factors driving <span>this complexity, ‘standardization' and ‘customization,' and their apparent resulting paradox to be negotiated by <span>healthcare professionals, managers and policy makers. However, while they present a compelling argument an <span>alternative viewpoint exists. An analysis is presented that shows instead of being ‘competing' logics in healthcare, <span>standardization and customization are long standing ‘colluding' logics. Mannion and Exworthy's call for further <span>sustained work to understand this complex, contested space is endorsed, noting that it is critical to inform future <span>debates and service decisions.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></span>