From the Preface: Collectively, the chapters in this book address application domains including inpatient and outpatient services, public health networks, supply chain management, and resource constrained settings in developing countries. Many of the chapters provide specific examples or case studies illustrating the applications of operations research methods across the globe, including Africa, Australia, Belgium, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Chapters 1-4 review operations research methods that are most commonly applied to health care operations management including: queuing, simulation, and mathematical programming. Chapters 5-7 address challenges related to inpatient services in hospitals such as surgery, intensive care units, and hospital wards. Chapters 8-10 cover outpatient services, the fastest growing part of many health systems, and describe operations research models for primary and specialty care services, and how to plan for patient no-shows. Chapters 12 – 16 cover topics related to the broader integration of health services in the context of public health, including optimizing the location of emergency vehicles, planning for mass vaccination events, and the coordination among different parts of a health system. Chapters 17-18 address supply chain management within hospitals, with a focus on pharmaceutical supply management, and the challenges of managing inventory for nursing units. Finally, Chapters 19-20 provide examples of important and emerging research in the realm of humanitarian logistics.

This edited volume captures and communicates the best thinking on how to improve healthcare by improving the delivery of services -- providing care when and where it is needed most -- through application of state-of-the-art scheduling systems. Over 12 chapters, the authors cover aspects of setting appointments, allocating healthcare resources, and planning to ensure that capacity matches needs for care. A central theme of the book is increasing healthcare efficiency so that both the cost of care is reduced and more patients have access to care. This can be accomplished through reduction of idle time, lessening the time needed to provide services and matching resources to the needs where they can have the greatest possible impact on health. Within their chapters, authors address: (1) Use of scheduling to improve healthcare efficiency. (2) Objectives, constraints and mathematical formulations. (3) Key methods and techniques for creating schedules. (4) Recent developments that improve the available problem solving methods. (5) Actual applications, demonstrating how the methods can be used. (6) Future directions in which the field of research is heading. Collectively, the chapters provide a comprehensive state-of-the-art review of models and methods for scheduling the delivery of patient care for all parts of the healthcare system. Chapter topics include setting appointments for ambulatory care and outpatient procedures, surgical scheduling, nurse scheduling, bed management and allocation, medical supply logistics and routing and scheduling for home healthcare.

This book presents healthcare logistics solutions that have been successfully implemented at a variety of healthcare facilities. In each case, a major challenge is presented, along with the solution approach and implementation steps, followed by the impact on hospital operations. Problems encountered when implementing the results in practice are also discussed. Much of the work presented is drawn from the experiences of members of the Center for Healthcare Operations Improvement and Research (CHOIR) at Twente, along with the CHOIR spin-off company, Rhythm.

Risk Management Handbook for Health Care Organizations, Student Edition This comprehensive textbook provides a complete introduction to risk management in health care. Risk Management Handbook, Student Edition, covers general risk management techniques; standards of health care risk management administration; federal, state and local laws; and methods for integrating patient safety and enterprise risk management into a comprehensive risk management program. The Student Edition is applicable to all health care settings including acute care hospital to hospice, and long term care. Written for students and those new to the topic, each chapter highlights key points and learning objectives, lists key terms, and offers questions for discussion. An instructor's supplement with cases and other material is also available. American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) is a personal membership group of the American Hospital Association with more than 5,000 members representing health care, insurance, law, and other related professions. ASHRM promotes effective and innovative risk management strategies and professional leadership through education, recognition, advocacy, publications, networking, and interactions with leading health care organizations and government agencies. ASHRM initiatives focus on developing and implementing safe and effective patient care practices, preserving financial resources, and maintaining safe working environments.

The book shows readers exactly how to use Lean tools to design healthcare work that is smooth, efficient, error free and focused on patients and patient outcomes. It includes in-depth discussions of every important Lean tool, including value stream maps, takt time, spaghetti diagrams, workcell design, 5S, SMED, A3, Kanban, Kaizen and many more, all presented in the context of healthcare. For example, the book explains the importance of quick operating room or exam room changeovers and shows the reader specific methods for drastically reducing changeover time. Readers will learn to create healthcare value streams where workflows are based on the pull of customer/patient demand. The book also presents a variety of ways to continue improving after initial Lean successes. Methods for finding the root causes of problems and implementing effective solutions are described and demonstrated. The approach taught here is based on the Toyota Production System, which has been adopted worldwide by healthcare organizations for use in clinical, non-clinical and administrative areas.

This thoroughly revised and updated second edition of Operations Management in Healthcare: Strategy and Practice describes how healthcare organizations can cultivate a competitive lead by developing superior operations using a strategic perspective. In clearly demonstrating the "how-tos" of effectively managing a healthcare organization, this new edition also addresses the "why" of providing quality and value-based care. Comprehensive and practice-oriented, chapters illustrate how to excel in the four competitive priorities - quality, cost, delivery, and flexibility - in order to build a cumulative model of healthcare operations in which all concepts and tools fit together. This textbook encourages a hands-on approach and integrates mind maps to connect concepts, icons for quick reference, dashboards for measurement and tracking of progress, and newly updated end-of-chapter problems and assignments to reinforce creative and critical thinking. Written with the diverse learning needs in mind for programs in health administration, public health, business administration, public administration, and nursing, the textbook equips students with essential high-level problem-solving and process improvement skills. The book reveals concepts and tools through a series of short vignettes of a fictitious healthcare organization as it embarks on its journey to becoming a highly reliable organization. This second edition also includes a strong emphasis on the patient's perspective as well as expanded and added coverage of Lean Six Sigma, value-based payment models, vertical integration, mergers and acquisitions, artificial intelligence, population health, and more to reflect evolving innovations in the healthcare environment across the United States. Complete with a full and updated suite of Instructor Resources, including Instructor’s Manual, PowerPoints, and test bank in addition to data sets, tutorial videos, and Excel templates for students. Key Features: Demonstrates the "how-tos" of effectively managing a healthcare organization Sharpens problem-solving and process improvement skills through use of an extensive toolkit developed throughout the text Prepares students for Lean Six Sigma certification with expanded coverage of concepts, tools, and analytics Highlights new trends in healthcare management with coverage of value-based payments, mergers and acquisitions, population health, telehealth, and more Intertwines concepts with vivid vignettes to describe human dynamics, organizational challenges, and applications of tools Employs boxed features and YouTube videos to address frequently asked questions and real-world instances of operations in practice

The Handbook of Healthcare Management is a comprehensive examination of key management practices for global healthcare organizations, arguing that insight into and implementation of these practices is essential for success and sustainability.