In a changing healthcare environment of limited resources, in which changing patient demands and an increasing focus on value-for-service and patient-centered care are driving change, healthcare managers must develop skills to systematically manage their organization’s healthcare delivery systems. Concerns about cost, quality, safety and access only amplify the challenges of efficiency and effectiveness. So it is imperative that managers, care providers, operations consultants, and decision-makers in organizations that support healthcare delivery adopt more systematic and rigorous approaches to managing healthcare delivery systems.
The Healthcare Operations course in the Executive Masters in Health Administration (EMHA) program in the College of Business at Florida Atlantic University addresses this challenge. Operations are a core function in every organization, in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, as well as in government and non-governmental agencies. The discipline of Operations is primarily about the design and delivery of goods and services. This course helps students develop competencies in the design and delivery of healthcare services. The course introduces students to fundamental Operations Management principles in the healthcare services context. Students learn to recognize, diagnose, design, and apply operations concepts to effectively manage and improve delivery systems. These concepts include operations strategy, process management, lean six sigma quality, patient satisfaction, patient safety, supply chain management, and innovation.
Students in this course typically come from a variety of healthcare-related areas that range from clinical providers to those involved in managing the system. Students in every class usually reflect the diverse expertise that is typical of the heterogeneous healthcare industry. Key objectives of the course are to further develop students’ critical thinking in operations by leveraging their experience, while also helping them develop skills that can be deployed in their respective work environments. The course is designed to be both academically rigorous and professionally pragmatic.
The Healthcare Operations course is based on a set of contemporary case studies and readings, and is supported by lectures on specific Operations topics. Students are also introduced to a variety of online resources that they can continue to use professionally beyond the program. This approach overcomes the limitations of many traditional text books in this field which tend to be uneven in their coverage of a rapidly evolving industry. The course also integrates a Six Sigma green belt certification within it. To earn this certification, students successfully complete an exam and team projects that are typically based in their organizations. Case analyses and projects are team efforts in this course. This usually helps diffuse learning across the various healthcare domains of the students.
The course begins by taking a broad view of Operations and its importance to the success of any organization. The U.S. healthcare market and those in other parts of the world are reviewed. The course reflects on the various industries involved including care delivery systems, insurance providers, government services, pharmaceutical industry, and device manufacturers. This sets the stage for a more comprehensive perspective of Operations in the industry.
Understanding process management is at the heart of any Operations. Effective and efficient delivery of services is based on well designed and robust processes. A complex but very visible process in healthcare delivery is a hospital Emergency Department (ED). Improving ED patient flows is both a safety and a cost issue, in addition to timely care. The intricacies of this process are analyzed with an in-depth case analysis.
The Healthcare Operations course has a major module on quality, safety and patient satisfaction. Here students learn the core principles of Lean Six Sigma and are also introduced to the related tools through basic applications. A case study that involves managing the quality of tissue samples in the biotech research and development process provides a basis for deeper look a quality management processes. But an understanding of quality in healthcare, by its very nature, cannot be complete without a deeper understanding of patient safety and patient satisfaction. Best practices from a leader in the field, the Cleveland Clinic, provide the context to learn more about how patient satisfaction can be achieved. A critical evaluation of the HCAHPS survey also gives students a basis for improving patient satisfaction. Patient safety is central to healthcare. So an in-depth understanding of safety science frameworks is provided to place healthcare safety in context. Readings in this area help students develop an appreciation of the complexity of managing safety in the complex and dynamic environment of healthcare.
Managing the supply chain is a core operational responsibility. A supply chain consists of all organizations involved, directly or indirectly, in fulfilling a customer request. Supply chains in healthcare care are complex and global in nature as evident in pharmaceutical industry supply chains. Students learn the various dimensions of the global healthcare supply chain through readings and case studies. Specifically, the flu- vaccine supply chain from creation to delivery is explored in a U.S. context, as is the global offshoring of healthcare delivery. Healthcare Operations cannot be understood without a deeper understanding of the impact of innovation and technology on healthcare delivery. Specifically, the course explores the use of social networks in healthcare, the developments in mobile healthcare, and the emerging critical area of healthcare analytics. These advances are bound to continue to provide both challenges and opportunities to deliver more effective patient care.
An integrative feature of the course is the Six Sigma green belt project. Here, student teams apply Six Sigma principles to an operational challenge in their work environment. Typical projects undertaken by students in this course include efforts to reduce patient hospital readmissions and unnecessary admissions, reducing risk of falls in rehabilitation and skilled nursing facilities, improving timeliness of in-patient therapy, limiting the spread of MRSA in hospitals, limiting the cases of patients leaving the emergency department without being seen or against medical advice, reducing incidents of insurance denials, improving pharmaceutical packaging processes, improving the physician credentialing process, increasing patient flow and patient satisfaction in dental practices, and care coordination. Through the various topics discussed in this course and the Six Sigma project, this course provides students with a sound basis for improving and effectively managing their operations.
Operations Management is a practice, very much like clinical patient care. It should be treated like that by building the practice on the foundation of sound theory. This graduate EMHA course provides students with an advanced understanding of the concepts of Operations while maintaining the pragmatic aspects of its practice.
