Robotic Process Flexibilization in the Term of Crisis: A Case Study of Robotic Process Automation in a Public Health Department

Due to the pandemic, institutions of the health sector, especially public health departments, are facing major challenges in managing their processes. In a constantly changing environment, new and existing processes have to be adopted or implemented in the shortest possible time, while the process volumes to be managed are constantly increasing. In our article, we use a case study to show how the concept of “flexibility by design” can be influenced by RPA in the sensitive environment of healthcare and how exactly flexibility in process execution can be achieved with it. As a result, we show that RPA can positively implement or enable three of the six realization options from the concept. In addition, the concept was supplemented by two aggregated theoretical dimensions, namely “Response” and “Range,” which summarize the supporting conditions for a process flexibilization with RPA. In the article, we thereby show how exactly RPA can complement existing processes in a healthcare environment and thus, serve to subsequently make rigid process models more flexible

Operationalizing Lewin’s 3-Step Change Model in the Outpatient Setting: A COVID-19 Case Study

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the healthcare industry and forced organizations to fundamentally change their operations to ensure the highest level of safety for both patients and staff alike. The purpose of this study is to analyze the rapid response change process to COVID-19 in an outpatient setting and provide current and future healthcare leaders and organizations elements for consideration in redesigning healthcare delivery during a pandemic. Through a series of semi-structured interviews with Independent American Health Clinic employees, coupled with a thematic analysis, three main themes emerged the organization’s response: environment of care, healthcare operations, and organizational infrastructure. These themes were placed into a framework consisting of Lewin’s 3-Step Change model (unfreezing, moving, and refreezing) to retrospectively analyze an organization’s change efforts in response to COVID-19. The analysis highlighted a nine month period that started just prior to the pandemic declaration and aligned with the early trend of increasing cases and transmission levels. The analysis also outlined distinct challenges presented to the change efforts set by the existing culture of the organization. Additional information provided by participants during the interview process offered supplementary areas for discussion to include pandemic planning and training, the importance of staff resiliency, and the need to continuously monitor and improve business operations. The results showed that while there are many similarities to the conditions for which healthcare organizations needed to respond, the change efforts are unique to each organization

Information Systems and Healthcare XXXI: Improving Infection Control Process Efficiency to Reduce Hospital Acquired Infections

Inconsistent and incomplete information due to the diversity of isolated information systems is one of the major problems information technology faces in the healthcare sector. The insufficient integration of actors results in delays in clinical processes. However, due to strict constraints in health care such as health regulations, clinical processes cannot be modified freely. The approach of this work is to apply the less radical principles of Business Process Management to medical information systems to provide reliable and timely access to relevant patient information and to decrease process lead time. In particular, this work outlines the impact of optimization for administrative processes. To substantiate our research, we performed a case study in collaboration with a healthcare provider and a regional healthcare facility in the U.S. We report on the workflow implementation of a clinical infection control process which integrates disparate systems and automates clinical decision making according to clinical knowledge. The post-metrics clearly emphasize the capability of Business Process Management to improve the integration of information, increase the quality of patient care, reduce health worker\u27s stress, and ease costs of treatment by significantly shortening process lead time. We conclude with a generalization of the results for other healthcare enterprises

Examining the Impact of Information Technology on Healthcare Performance: A Theory of Swift and Even Flow (TSEF) Perspective

The impact of information technologies on manufacturing operations and performance is well established. However, scant research has been devoted to examining information technology (IT) investment among hospitals and how it influences patient care and financial performance. Using the lens of the Theory of Swift Even Flow (TSEF), we present an operations management-based perspective on the effect of IT in streamlining hospital operations. Specifically, we examined the role of IT on patient flow and its consequences for improved hospital efficiency and performance. Analysis of data from 567 U.S. hospitals shows that IT is associated with swift and even patient flow, which in turn is associated with improved revenues. Interestingly, we find that the improvement in financial performance is not at the expense of quality because we find similar effects of IT and patient flow in improvements in the quality of patient care. Further, we observed differential effects of swift flow and even flow on various measures of hospital performance. Although swift flow affects financial performance, even flow primarily affects quality performance. Taken together, they have a mutually reinforcing overall impact on hospital performance. The implications of these findings for hospital decision makers are that patient flow is an important mediating variable that is affected by IT and can significantly affect the quality of patient care and financial performance

From health care services to healthcare profiling within the COVID-19 emergency : the role of the health quality impact assessment inside the local health unit

Purpose: The work considers the application of the quality of the care profile in hospital care, trying to obtain an overview of the resources used in the entire emergency management process in order to understand the information necessary for setting up improvement of activities. The analysis, combines theoretical reflections and empirical evidence relating to the treatment of the COVID-19 virus, develops the approach in question within the complex process of establishing a more effective and efficient care path. Design/Methodology/Approach: The choice of the field survey, is based on the qualitative method and in particular through the use of the case study, finds justification with the study objective and with the nature of the phenomenon investigated. This method lends itself to the need to observe the phenomena being analyzed in the environment of natural manifestation, even in the presence of other variables such as, the peculiarity of the managerial approach of the structure being investigated. Taking into account the current lack of knowledge on the subject being analyzed (COVID-19), the research is also based on a study of exploratory cases. Exploratory studies are appropriate when the understanding of the phenomenon under analysis from a theoretical (clinical) point of view is still in the embryonic stage. More generally, case studies are aimed at understanding complex organizational phenomena. The investigation concerns the Alfa Hospital in Calabria, selected as a study unit on the basis of some considerations. From a territorial point of view it operates in a vast provincial area. The strong focus on share capital is an important element in relation to the issue of quality as it represents a meta-condition for starting efficiency and planning processes. In addition, from an organizational point of view, the Company participated as a partner in projects on issues relating to emergency management. The Company is the regional reference hospital, DEA II level, regional HUB headquarters and COVID-19 Center. It is the reference point of the SPOKE centers, ensuring the highly specialized functions related to the emergency / urgency, coordinating the activity of the networks at local-regional and national level. Findings: The research focuses on the collection of data that represent the effort made by the Company in the construction of a theoretical-practical framework that acts as a reading key for the interrelation of emergency management with the Company's specific organizational-management model within the path concerning the provision of health services and the related care profiles having as central inspiring logic the centralization of the patient. Practical Implications: Consistent with what happened in other sectors of the Public Administration, where the process of change has as its objective the search for efficiency and efficacy, in Italy there is growing awareness that an efficient, effective and fair health service must be considered a critical success factor for the economic and social development of the country. The health system is at the center of great attention, having to demonstrate that it is adequately using the constantly decreasing resources available to it, in the face of a growing demand for health. Originality/value: The need for a growing orientation towards performance and the use of programming tools in the healthcare sector has been consolidated in the overall process of public administration corporatization. In this context, pathologies characterized by the length of care paths and high complexity in terms of treatment and complications must be considered. These pathologies are important in epidemiological terms, absorbed resources and potential for improvement from the point of view of intervention policies, public health services and efficiency.peer-reviewe

Business continuity in the COVID-19 emergency: A framework of actions undertaken by world-leading companies

none2openMargherita A; Heikkilä MMargherita, A; Heikkilä,

Connecting the Dots: A Case Study of Transforming Care and the Frontline Workforce at UnityPoint Health-Des Moines

A growing number of health care employers have made substantial investments in the skill and career growth of their frontline staff -- many of whom spend the most time with patients, taking vital signs, bringing meals, changing linens, and registering them into or out of the hospital or clinic. Iowa's UnityPoint Health, a leader in developing frontline workers, is committed in transforming the way it delivers care. UnityPoint Health's Des Moines hospitals and clinics are showing that it is possible to connect the dots between developing a skilled workforce and delivering better care. While this process is far from finished, UPH offers valuable lessons in aligning talent development with business objectives in the age of the Affordable Care Act. This is a case study of UnityPoint Health and its effort to transform care, develop frontline workers, and fully align these objectives in its Des Moines hospitals and outpatient clinics

Total Quality Management and Six Sigma

In order to survive in a modern and competitive environment, organizations need to carefully organize their activities regarding quality management. TQM and six sigma are the approaches that have been successful in solving intricate quality problems in products and services. This volume can help those who are interested in the quality management field to understand core ideas along with contemporary efforts done in the field and authored as case studies in this volume. This volume may be useful to students, academics and practitioners across diversified disciplines

Jefferson Review - Fall 2017

INSIDE Features 6 - Introducing the New Jefferson: One Name. Two Legacies. Infinite Possibilities. 10 - The PhiladlephiaU Story: A History of Change and Innovation 18 - Two Alumnae, One Vision: A New Home Base for All Graduates 2 - The Provost\u27s Column 5 - The Families We Choose: A Message from Elizabeth Dale On Campus 22 - College of Biomedical Sciences 22 - College of Health Professions 23 - College of Nursing 24 - College of Pharmacy 26 - Carol Ammon, BSN \u2717, MBA: A Brand-New Nurse, on a Mission 28 - Alia Salam, MPH \u2717: Helping Refugees on the Ground 30 - Class Notes 30 - In Memoriam 32 - 10 Years with JCIPE - And Beyond: Transforming Patient Care, Education, and Jefferso