The concept of management refers to the manner or the process in which the diverse affairs of a particular organization or enterprise are managed or taken care of so that the concerned organization or the enterprise is being able to achieve the target or the objective outlined by them (Ginter, Duncan & Swayne, 2018). Furthermore, it is seen that the majority of the concepts related to the process of management have been designed from the perspective of the business world and thus the various health care organizations find it very difficult to integrate these concepts within the framework of their health care organization (Wang, Kung & Byrd, 2018). This is perhaps one of the major reasons why the framework of the various health care organizations is drastically different from the ones followed within the domain of the business world (Wang, Kung & Byrd, 2018).
One of the major factors on the basis of which the differences between the practices as well as policies of management followed within the framework of these two types of organizations can be explained is the fact that both of them cater to the interests of different end users and this causes the differences between the style of management followed by these two industries (Langabeer II & Helton, 2015). For example, the end users of the services provided by the various business enterprises are the customers who opt for the products or the services offered by the concerned business enterprise and the focus of these enterprises is on earning the maximum amount of profit (Wager, Lee & Glaser, 2017). In the case of the health care organizations, on the other hand, the end users of the services provided by these organizations are the patients who come to these organizations to get themselves cured and thus the insistence in this case is on treating the patient suffering from health problems (Wager, Lee & Glaser, 2017). It can be said that the ultimate objective of these two organizations are different and herein is the major reason for the difference in the management styles followed by the two. This paper will undertake a review of the process of operation management followed in the emergency ward of one of the hospitals.
The concept of operation management in the field of business is associated with the processes of designing as well as the controlling of the means of production (Raghupathi & Raghupathi, 2014). Furthermore, this process is also associated with the redesigning of the entire process of business management so as to further boost the production of the products or the services on which the annual revenue of the concerned business enterprise will depend (Lee, Kao & Yang, 2014). This process begins with the procurement of raw materials that would be needed for the production of the products or the services that the company offers and terminates after the manufactured product or service is shipped out (Lee, Kao & Yang, 2014). In the genre of health care industry, on the other hand, the process of operation management refers to the process by means of which the entire treatment process which is provided to a particular patient is managed in the most effective manner so as to provide the best quality treatment to the patient (Ward, Marsolo & Froehle, 2014). The process begins from the step wherein the patient is required to register themselves at the very beginning and ends when the patient finally gets treated and goes home (Ward, Marsolo & Froehle, 2014). Furthermore, it is seen that different health care organizations have different operation management styles which they follow for the process of providing treatment to the patients and the effectiveness of the operational management system depends on the objective with which that particular style of operation management is being used and also on the manner in which the different attributes of the system are being taken care of (Yuehong et al., 2016).
The case study which has been provided “Value Stream Map- Emergency Room” clearly indicates that there are nine stages in the process of material flow in the concerned hospital which needs to be effectively managed on the part of the concerned hospitals so as to provide effective treatment services to the patients. The nine stages which are involved in the process of providing treatment facilities to the patients are firstly, the patient needs to get him-self or her-self registered in the hospital. At this particular stage the concerned patient needs to provide information not only about themselves but also about the health related problems that they are facing. In the second the patients are sent to the waiting room where he or she is required to wait. In the meantime, the information provided by the patient is being processed and the as per the symptoms of the diseases mentioned by the patient his or her information is passed on to the concerned department. After the completion of this stage, the patient is taken to emergency room wherein he or she is again required to wait for a while until his or her turn comes up. In the fourth stage, the patient is being examined by a registered nurse who does a basic check and tries to find out more about the problems that the patients is suffering, their blood pressure level, body temperature and other relevant details depending on the severity of the case of the patient. In the next stage, the patient is being examined by a doctor who undertakes a thorough examination and tries to address the issues or the problems faced by the patient in the best possible manner. At the same time the doctor makes a list of tests that the patient needs to undertake so that he or she can get a better picture of the problems or the disease that the patient is suffering from and doctor even makes a preliminary list of the medications which might be useful for the patient in the meantime while the doctor is awaiting for test reports of the patients. In the next stage the nurse brings the temporary medication for the patient and if possible the test results of the patient. Following the test results of the concerned patient the doctor provides medication to the patient and provides them the kind of treatment that is needed in the particular medical case. Finally the departing instructions for the patient are prepared and going of the patient to his or her is the final stage in the process. These steps were primarily concerned with the effective management of the material flow so that the concerned hospital is being able to provide the right kind of treatment facilities to the patients who take the help of the medical services provided by them.
In addition to the management of the flow of the material there is also the flow of the required information from one department of the hospital or one individual health care professional of the emergency room to another. It is significant to note that this particular process is also related to the process of treatment which is being provided to the patients since the required information of the patient are passed from one individual health care professional to another with the help of this particular process. The process of information flow also begins with the registration of the patient and his or her act of providing the information about the state of their health or the problem that they are facing to the person who is taking his or her registration form. Furthermore, at this stage the medical insurance details of the patients and also the past medical history details of the patients are also being looked up into the medical database of the hospital which are likely to make the process of providing treatment to the concerned patient much better as well as easier. Next the registered nurse takes the vital statistics of the patient and this is being matched with the past medical history records of the same patient that the hospital has from the previous visits of the same patient. In the next stage as well when the doctor examines the patient the results of body statistics and other relevant tests that the doctor has conducted on the patient are being tallied with the past results of similar kinds of tests conducted on the past and then tallying the past results of the patient with the present ones the doctor needs to judge whether the condition of the patient has shown signs of improvement or has declined. The doctor is required to administer the medicines to the past based on this particular analysis of the past and the present medical condition of the patient and if the doctor finds that the patient is not showing signs of improvement then the doctor can sent the concerned patient to the attending physician who is likely to first consult the hospital records and access other kinds of information to see whether the patient has medical insurance or not or for that matter would be able to afford the medical treatment or not. Finally after the treatment process is over the departure papers of the patients are prepared and the patients leave for home. However, after the patient goes home the hospital once again saves the medical information of the patient so that this could be used by them for future reference.
An analysis of the “Value Stream Map – Emergency Room” clearly reveals the fact that the operation management style followed in the concerned case and the ones followed by the various business enterprises for the manufacture of the products or the services offered by them to the customers are to some extent identical with each other. For example, in the world of business it is seen that the focus of the various enterprises is on the process of the production of products or the services offered by them to the customers from the raw materials (Dafny, 2014). However, it is generally seen that there is also an emphasis on the management of the information from the past manufacturing processes of products or services that these enterprises so that these information can be used in the future times for the manufacture of similar kinds of products or services (Wager, Lee & Glaser, 2017). In many cases it is seen that the use of this particular method helps the concerned enterprise to save a lot of valuable time as well as resources which would have been spent on again identifying the factors or the critical paths that it had found during the last time. It is significant to note that the analysis of the operation management system in the case study “Value Stream Map – Emergency Room” also revealed the same fact. For example, the concerned emergency room by taking the help of information flow system was not only able the manage the various operations that the health care professionals related to the emergency ward were required to handle or take care but at the same time by taking the help of the process of information flow ensured that the doctors and the nurses would not have to conducted the same kinds of tests on the patients each time they visit the emergency ward. Therefore, it can be said that the efficiency as well as the effectiveness of the emergency ward is dependent to a large extent on the kind of operation management system that the concerned hospital is following at the current moment.
For the purpose of the analysis of the operation plan of the emergency room a detailed consideration of the various stages involved in the process of treatment that is being provided to the patient was analyzed. This required a critical analysis of the various stages involved in the process right from the registration process to the exit of the patient from the emergency room and all the stages involved in between. Furthermore, the analysis also required a detailed analysis of the two components of the operation management process followed by the emergency room, namely, material flow and the information flow and also the manner in which they are being managed. On the basis of these the issues with the operation management plan followed by the emergency room were identified and a proposed solution for its improvement has been provided in the later sections of the paper.
The term disruptive innovation was first coined in 1995 by Clayton M. Christensen, an American Scholar and his colleagues and since then the term had gained widespread significance within the framework of the contemporary business world (Christensen, Raynor & McDonald, 2015). In the particular cannon of the business world the term is generally used to refer to the kind of innovations which not only a business market for themselves and a value network but at the same time in the longer lead to the disruption or the destruction of the older forms of market and also value networks which have been a part of the system before its invention (Christensen, Raynor & McDonald, 2015). It is significant to note that the concept of disruptive innovation is being increasingly used by the smaller firms for the purpose of outrivaling the larger competitors of theirs (Nagy, Schuessler & Dubinsky, 2016). For example, it is generally seen that the major focus of the successful organizations is on satisfying the needs of one particular section or segment of their entire customers and mostly it is the richer and the most profitable section of the society (Nagy, Schuessler & Dubinsky, 2016). Thus, it is generally seen that in order to fulfill the needs and the desires of these customers the concerned organization often overreaches the disruptive curve and fail to effectively fulfill the need of the customers belonging the other sections of the same curve. Experts are of the viewpoint that in the longer run this can have negative repercussions for the concerned organization and is more likely to lose its competitive edge to the organizations which are trying to focus on all the three sections of the disruptive innovation model (King & Baatartogtokh, 2015). It is a reflection of this particular fact that the various new start-up organizations and also the others smaller organizations are increasingly turning towards the use of this particular innovation model to gain a sustainable competitive edge over their competitors (Jung & Padman, 2015).
The operation management system discussed in the case study “Value Stream Map – Emergency Room” can take the help of the Disruptive Innovation Model not only for the process of the improvement of the existing model of operation management that it is following but also to provide better services in comparison to the other hospitals. Following the precepts of this particular model the concerned emergency ward of the hospital can improve the service map that it currently has. For example, for the effective management of the different operations that the emergency ward needs to undertake in order to provide effective health care services to the patients the emergency ward takes the help of two different kinds of processes, namely, the information flow and the material flow. It is significant to note that the hospital follows a step-by-step process for the completion of each of these tasks and this ends up taking a lot of time as well as resources of not only the hospital but also of the concerned patients. Thus, taking the help of the system of disruptive innovation the concerned hospital can club together the two different systems of information flow and material flow into one model which will take care of the information as well as the material also. Furthermore, instead of having the manual methods of checking the past medical information of the patient at each stage of the process of treatment the hospital taking the help of the process of disruptive innovation can come up with the creation of a new software which will store the information of all the past medical history of the patient provided the patient has undergone treatment in the concerned hospital in the past. Thus, during the time of registering itself when the name and the other details of the patient is being entered into the software it will show all the medical information of the patient that the nurses, doctors and the attending physicians would need to know about the patients. This is not only likely to significantly reduce the time that the health care professionals would have to invest for treating one particular patient but the health care professionals would be able to treat more patients in comparatively lesser amount of time and the best part is that the margin for error will be very less. This in turn would enhance the quality of treatment services provided by the concerned health care organizations to the patients who opt for the services provided by them.
Conclusion
To conclude, the concept of operation management since the traditional times has been defined in the particular context of the business world and the basic precepts as well as the strategy outlined for the use of this particular concept are also from the perspective of the business world. However, in the recent times it is seen that the other industries like the health care industry and others are also increasingly turning towards the use of this particular process for the effective management of their operations. It is significant to note that be it the world of business or the health care industry there is always some end users who consume the services or the products offered by these industries. In this particular context the service provided by the health care industry is more important since it is related to the life and death of an individual and thus it can be said that the management of the various processes which are used for providing treatment to the patients is very important. This is one of the major reasons why the use of the concept of operation management is more important in the health care industry. In addition to this, at the same time it is also seen that there are various health care organizations which are increasingly taking the help of the concept of disruptive innovation to provide better quality of treatment facilities to the patients. The use of disruptive innovation not only helps the various health care organizations to improve the operation management system which they are following at the current moment but at the same time helps them to provide better quality services at very low prices. Furthermore, the use of disruptive innovation specially in the case study discussed in this paper is likely to help the concerned hospital in a significant manner since it will help the health care professionals associated with the concerned hospital to provide treatment facilities to more number of patients in the same time period and thus they would be able to serve the patients in a much more effective manner.
References
Christensen, C. M., Raynor, M. E., & McDonald, R. (2015). What is disruptive innovation. Harvard Business Review, 93(12), 44-53.
Cortez, N. (2014). Regulating disruptive innovation. Berkeley Tech. LJ, 29, 175.
Dafny, L. (2014). Hospital industry consolidation—still more to come?. New England Journal of Medicine, 370(3), 198-199.
Dobrzykowski, D., Deilami, V. S., Hong, P., & Kim, S. C. (2014). A structured analysis of operations and supply chain management research in healthcare (1982–2011). International Journal of Production Economics, 147, 514-530.
Ginter, P. M., Duncan, W. J., & Swayne, L. E. (2018). The strategic management of health care organizations. John Wiley & Sons.
Jung, C., & Padman, R. (2015). Disruptive digital innovation in healthcare delivery: the case for patient portals and online clinical consultations. In The Handbook of Service Innovation(pp. 297-318). Springer, London.
Kagermann, H. (2015). Change through digitization—Value creation in the age of Industry 4.0. In Management of permanent change (pp. 23-45). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden.
King, A. A., & Baatartogtokh, B. (2015). How useful is the theory of disruptive innovation?. MIT Sloan Management Review, 57(1), 77.
Langabeer II, J. R., & Helton, J. (2015). Health care operations management. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (2016). Management information system. Pearson Education India.
Lee, J., Kao, H. A., & Yang, S. (2014). Service innovation and smart analytics for industry 4.0 and big data environment. Procedia Cirp, 16, 3-8.
Mahadevan, B. (2015). Operations management: Theory and practice. Pearson Education India.
Nagy, D., Schuessler, J., & Dubinsky, A. (2016). Defining and identifying disruptive innovations. Industrial Marketing Management, 57, 119-126.
Page, T. (2014). Notions of innovation in healthcare services and products. International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, 8(3), 217-231.
Raghupathi, W., & Raghupathi, V. (2014). Big data analytics in healthcare: promise and potential. Health information science and systems, 2(1), 3.
Shanks, N. H. (Ed.). (2016). Introduction to health care management. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Wager, K. A., Lee, F. W., & Glaser, J. P. (2017). Health care information systems: a practical approach for health care management. John Wiley & Sons.
Wang, Y., Kung, L., & Byrd, T. A. (2018). Big data analytics: Understanding its capabilities and potential benefits for healthcare organizations. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 126, 3-13.
Ward, M. J., Marsolo, K. A., & Froehle, C. M. (2014). Applications of business analytics in healthcare. Business horizons, 57(5), 571-582.
Yuehong, Y. I. N., Zeng, Y., Chen, X., & Fan, Y. (2016). The internet of things in healthcare: An overview. Journal of Industrial Information Integration, 1, 3-13.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download