Module 1: An Introduction to Healthcare Operations Management

In our opening module we explore what healthcare operations management is and why the performance it results in can make or break a healthcare organisation or service. The topics covered in this module include:

• how volume, variety, variation and visibility explain the differences between different types of healthcare service
• how healthcare services align their resources, capabilities and processes with their performance objectives
• the four major decision areas of the healthcare operations manager: capacity, purchasing and supply, process technology and improvement
• The differing perspectives that healthcare’s many stakeholders have on what high-performance means

Module 2: Purchasing and Supply Strategy

No healthcare service works in isolation: it is always dependent on a network of suppliers for everything from drugs and consumables to IT systems and diagnostic equipment. In our second module we discover how successful healthcare managers make important purchasing and supply decisions. The topics covered in this module include:

• what is purchasing and supply strategy and why does it matter in healthcare?
• make or buy – deciding when and how to outsource
• why healthcare supply chains become distorted and how to prevent it from happening
• how Value-Based Purchasing can improve healthcare outcomes while lowering costs

Module 3: Process Technology Strategy

Technology has far too profound an impact on the delivery of healthcare services for decisions about its use to be left solely to technical specialists. In Module 3 we explore the role a healthcare manager should take in deciding what technologies to invest in and when to use them. The topics covered in this module include:

• what is process technology strategy and why does it matter in healthcare?
• using a technology roadmap to identify your service’s potential future needs
• how to evaluate a new technology and decide whether to use it
• the technologies that will reshape post-Covid health services

Module 4: Capacity Strategy

As the global Covid-19 pandemic has vividly illustrated, the fundamental challenge for every healthcare service is to provide sufficient capacity to meet patient demand. The consequences of getting capacity decisions wrong are almost always serious and sometimes fatal. In this module we therefore consider:

• what capacity strategy is and why it matters in healthcare
• the factors that influence and affect patient demand
• how to forecast patient demand
• how to analyse your health service’s capacity

Module 5: Improvement Strategy

Improvement lies at the heart of healthcare operations. Healthcare services that habitually use improvement programmes to make care more timely, more efficient and more cost effective will achieve far better performance than those that don’t. In this module we therefore explore:

• what is improvement strategy and why does it matter in healthcare?
• designing a healthcare operations dashboard: how to measure or observe performance and identify performance targets
• how to measure the gap between actual and target performance
• beginning an improvement project and preparing a project charter

Module 6: Measuring and Observing the Current State of Patient Flow

In Module 4, on capacity strategy, we discovered how important it is to be able to forecast patient demand and compare it with our service’s capacity. Now, in Module 6, we take a much deeper dive into this subject by learning techniques that can be used to measure and observe the current state of patient flow in our healthcare service. The topics covered in this module include:

• the main ways in which misalignment between demand and capacity makes itself visible in healthcare
• how to define and collect data for a patient flow assessment
• using process mapping to expose problems of capacity and variability

Module 7: Analysing the Current State of Patient Flow

Having measured and observed patient flow using techniques such as process mapping, Module 7 focuses on how to analyse and interpret this information. The topics covered in this module include:

• analysing patient flow: quantitative methods for measuring and evaluating patient flow
• understanding how well capacity is aligned with demand and knowing when it is time for change
• how to analyse queuing and waiting time
• using Statistical Process Control (SPC) to understand variation in patient flow

Module 8: Managing and Improving Patient Flow

In the last two modules we learned how to measure, observe and analyse the current state of patient flow. Now comes the hard part – managing and improving that flow. In this module we therefore consider:

• how to summarise your analysis and develop a plan of action
• using ‘change concepts’ to explore improvement ideas
• managing and eliminating variability by smoothing, homogenising and separating patient flows
• using the ‘Model for Improvement’ and PDSA cycles to test changes on a small scale

Module 9: Patient Flow Case Studies *

We have learned a lot about how to measure, analyse and improve patient flow. But how have progressive healthcare providers used these techniques to transform patient flow in their services and institutions? In this module we will explore case studies illustrating how to improve patient flow in contexts such as:

• hospital admissions, transfers and discharges
• primary care services
• emergency departments
• inpatient wards and intensive care units
• operating theatres, diagnostic imaging departments and laboratories

* Case studies will be selected on the basis of their relevancy to the specific patient flow challenges programme members are presently trying to overcome.

Module 10: The Human Side of Improving Healthcare Operations and Patient Flow

The tools and techniques we have explored during this course will enable the numerate, analytical healthcare manager to identify and plan significant service improvements. But what are the softer ‘people skills’ they will need in order to overcome their colleague’s skepticism and get buy-in from stakeholders? In this final module we explore:

• the characteristics of successful change agents in healthcare organisations
• how to use story-telling, ‘crucial conversations’ and the involvement of patients and families to build momentum behind an improvement project
• facilitating productive meetings, delegating responsibility and communicating effectively
• coaching and mentoring your team to develop their improvement capabilities