During the last decade, the health care sector has changed rapidly. Due to increased competition, the growing influence of patient-associations and a necessity to deliver health services in a more efficient and effective way, many health care organisations have started projects in the area of patient logistics, clinical pathways, data interchange and vertical integration (Aptel and Pourjalali, 2001). Moreover, the redesign of hospital services and the implementation of integrated care programmes are frequently addressed as being critical strategies to decrease resource utilization and improve