Usage and acceptance of drone technology in healthcare : exploring patients and physicians perspective

Modern technologies such as virtual reality, robots or drones are getting more and more important for organizations. Accordingly, the question arises in which industries these technologies can make a difference. This paper examines the use of drones in Swiss hospitals. A literature review is conducted outlining the most relevant flied of application for drone usage in healthcare. These use cases are then qualitatively rated by employees and patients of hospitals from different regions in Switzerland. Among others, the analysis revealed that employees and patients have strong concerns about drone usage in the hospital environment in the case drones provide diagnosis capabilities, but show less doubts if drones are used for delivery processes

Strategic management for logistics and supply chain operation in healthcare

In the healthcare industry, supply chain and logistics management are an important element in supporting the sustainability of the healthcare business. Business continuity in the healthcare industry requires improved quality of the healthcare sector. The quality of healthcare services may be affected by the performance of supply chain and logistics. Supply chain and logistics processes provide a substantial contribution in the overall financing of healthcare. The high costs incurred to finance the activities of the supply chain and logistics in the healthcare industry providing a major challenge for healthcare management. Management is demanded to achieve quality healthcare supply chain processes at a high level that minimize operating costs and improve service quality. So that, strategy and innovation in management are needed to achieve a high quality performance of supply chain and logistics in the healthcare industry in order to run effectively and efficiently. This paper discusses the research that focuses on the strategic management in the field of supply chain and logistics management in the healthcare industry. Based on obtained and selected articles will discuss various strategies and innovation within the healthcare system to improve supply chain performance

Artificial Intelligence for Hospital Health Care:Application Cases and Answers to Challenges in European Hospitals

The development and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in health care contexts is a concurrent research and management question. Especially for hospitals, the expectations regarding improved efficiency and effectiveness by the introduction of novel AI applications are huge. However, experiences with real-life AI use cases are still scarce. As a first step towards structuring and comparing such experiences, this paper is presenting a comparative approach from nine European hospitals and eleven different use cases with possible application areas and benefits of hospital AI technologies. This is structured as a current review and opinion article from a diverse range of researchers and health care professionals. This contributes to important improvement options also for pandemic crises challenges, e.g., the current COVID-19 situation. The expected advantages as well as challenges regarding data protection, privacy, or human acceptance are reported. Altogether, the diversity of application cases is a core characteristic of AI applications in hospitals, and this requires a specific approach for successful implementation in the health care sector. This can include specialized solutions for hospitals regarding human-computer interaction, data management, and communication in AI implementation projects

Design of experiments for non-manufacturing processes : benefits, challenges and some examples

Design of Experiments (DoE) is a powerful technique for process optimization that has been widely deployed in almost all types of manufacturing processes and is used extensively in product and process design and development. There have not been as many efforts to apply powerful quality improvement techniques such as DoE to improve non-manufacturing processes. Factor levels often involve changing the way people work and so have to be handled carefully. It is even more important to get everyone working as a team. This paper explores the benefits and challenges in the application of DoE in non-manufacturing contexts. The viewpoints regarding the benefits and challenges of DoE in the non-manufacturing arena are gathered from a number of leading academics and practitioners in the field. The paper also makes an attempt to demystify the fact that DoE is not just applicable to manufacturing industries; rather it is equally applicable to non-manufacturing processes within manufacturing companies. The last part of the paper illustrates some case examples showing the power of the technique in non-manufacturing environments

Exploring risk pooling in hospitals to reduce demand and lead time uncertainty

Nearly every eighth German hospital faces an elevated risk of bankruptcy. An inappropriate use of inventory management practices is among the causes. Hospitals suffer from demand and lead time uncertainty, and the current COVID-19 pandemic worsened the plight. The popular business logistics concept of risk pooling has been shown to reduce these uncertainties in industry and trade, but has been neglected as a variability reduction method in healthcare operations research and practice. Based on a survey with 223 German hospitals, this study explores how ten risk pooling methods can be adapted and applied in the healthcare context to reduce economic losses while maintaining a given service level. The results suggest that in general risk pooling may improve the economic situation of hospitals and, in particular, inventory pooling, transshipments, and product substitution for medications and consumer goods are the most effective methods in the healthcare context, while form postponement may be unsuitable for hospitals due to the required efforts, delay in treatments, and liability issues. The application of risk pooling in healthcare requires willingness to exchange information and to cooperate, adequate IT infrastructure, compatibility, adherence to healthcare laws and regulations, and securing the immediate treatment of emergencies. Compared to manufacturing and trading companies, hospitals seem to currently neglect the variability reducing effect of risk pooling