Search results

This chapter summarises the role of EU actions in supporting healthcare policies in the EU Member States, both looking at implemented actions and describing current priorities for the future. It argues that these coordinated actions can be beneficial for EU Member States by helping them to avoid duplication of effort and to attain economies of scale. Moreover, data sharing with proper safeguards can unleash vast amount of ‘learning what works’ both for medical treatments and for healthcare sustainability measures. The need for this common learning appears ever more urgent while facing the health and economic consequences of the present pandemic.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for the improvement of healthcare services through an effective human resource management system. The case study highlights a need to analyze human resource management processes that exist in healthcare sector and suggests better ways to achieve higher levels of patient satisfaction.

The methodology consists of first developing a conceptual framework for human resource management in healthcare industry. The proposed framework comprises of three parts: inputs which include determining employee competencies, HR planning, job analysis, recruitment, selection, compensation benefits, pay/rewards, labor and employee relations; processes (training and development) focus on healthcare systems; and outputs which include quality, cost, technology, and responsiveness leading to patient satisfaction. Then, the framework has been studied with help of a case study conducted in a hospital in India.

The most important skill required for healthcare workforce to deliver high-quality care to patients is the human resource development. By appropriate workforce development, healthcare organizations can provide high-quality services to patients. Finally, it derives a set of conclusions from the case study research. Further research would be needed to validate the framework through empirical data.

This research is a new attempt as there is a limited research done earlier on the framework of human resource management in healthcare system and services. It is designed to facilitate training and development at both the individual and at organizational levels, advocating a balance between “healthcare employee” and “healthcare system.”

The purpose of this paper is to analyze a conceptual framework to identify significant benefit and cost attributes of a radio-frequency identification (RFID) system for asset tracking in healthcare facilities. Sources of value function for RFID in healthcare are categorized according to major improvement. Several cost functions are proposed to measure aspects of automated tracking implementation.

The four phases of problem definition, literature identification, assessment and analysis were used to begin the research. A cost–benefit analysis (CBA) was completed to identify the factors within healthcare with major benefits, and finally, a recommended group of items were identified to track with the CBA.

RFID to manage mobile devices increases the utilization rate, decreases annual spending, allows withdrawal of funds for underutilized assets and establishes confidence that equipment is readily available when needed. These benefits provide improved staff productivity, quicker patient turnover, higher quality of care and more cost savings. Real-time location system technologies allow hospitals to be prepared for emergencies requiring the immediate use of medical devices without delay and allow staff to determine the status, condition and location of essential equipment, leading to a decrease in patient wait time. Additional improvements were also found.

The transition from pay-for-service to pay-for-performance is taking place in an industry hampered by rising costs and limited available resources. Healthcare expenditures are estimated to grow dramatically, and various factors contribute to rising expenses, including an aging population and increased chronic conditions resulting in higher demand for care, poor quality and operational inefficiencies. Therefore, understanding benefits of new technology use like RFID is critical for improvement and efficiency in healthcare.

Business models (BMs) are becoming increasingly crucial for value creation in the healthcare sector. The study explores the conceptualization and application of BM concepts within the healthcare sector and investigates their evolution in emerging economies (EEs) and developed economies (DEs). This study aims to uncover these two contexts' shared characteristics and unique variances through a comparative analysis.

The paper systematically investigates and consolidates the literature on healthcare by employing the antecedents, decisions and outcomes (ADO) framework and finally examines 71 shortlisted articles published between 2003 and 2022.

The recognition of the BM within healthcare is increasing, both in EEs and DEs. EEs prioritize value creation and capture through cost efficiency, while DEs focus on innovation. Key theories employed include a resource-based view, the network theory and the theory of innovation. Case studies are commonly used as a methodology. Further research is needed to explore the decisions and outcomes of BMs.

The study adopts stringent filtration and keyword criteria, potentially excluding relevant research. Future researchers are encouraged to broaden their selection criteria to encompass a more extensive range of relevant studies.

Beyond comparing and highlighting gaps in BMs between EEs and DEs, benchmarking DE's healthcare business models (HBMs) helps healthcare organizations in EEs align their practices, mitigate risks and establish efficient healthcare systems tailored to their specific contexts. The study adopts stringent filtration and keyword criteria, potentially excluding relevant research. Future researchers are encouraged to broaden their selection criteria to encompass a more extensive range of relevant studies.

The study analyzes HBMs using an SLR framework perspective and provides practical implications for academicians and practitioners to enhance their decision-making.

This paper analyzed the healthcare systems of the Philippines and Vietnam prior to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and their strategies on mass testing, contact tracing, quarantine procedures and information dissemination about the pandemic.

Steinmo's (2008) historical institutionalism approach was used in this paper. Secondary data gathering, document analysis and comparative process tracing were employed.

The findings revealed that Vietnam's implementation of its Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases in 2007, its relatively low-cost healthcare system, its efficient mass testing and contact tracing strategies and its science-based decisions are contributory to its success in handling the pandemic. Meanwhile, the Philippines failure to enact its Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act in 2013, its costly and dominantly private healthcare system, its heavy focus on strict, long lockdowns and its militarist methods to control the spread of the pandemic were found to be insufficient.

Detailed study on the delivery of healthcare services in marginal areas, healthcare spending for COVID-19 positive individuals and information dissemination strategies about the pandemic were not explored.

Health institutions can redesign their governance mechanisms by ensuring a cost-effective healthcare system and maximizing resource utilization to ensure efficient management of future pandemics. Moreover, national governments should not compromise their country's healthcare system over the economy during a pandemic.

This paper analyzed the countries' history of healthcare governance and its influence in handling COVID-19 compared to previous studies which only focused on the countries' strategies during the pandemic.

The main purpose of this study is to provide healthcare institutions with a management accounting framework that helps them achieve their quality goals and cost targets when providing services under bundled payment schemes.

After providing a theoretical framework on both bundled payments and target costing, the success factors of the former are compared with the principles of the latter in order to analyze the compatibility and complementarity of these models. Afterwards, an example of their potential combination in practice is introduced and ideas for future research are suggested.

It is concluded that, apart from presenting similar underlying goals as regards quality and cost, bundled payments and target costing display elements in common that make them compatible from a theoretical standpoint.

Because bundled payments models are relatively new, studies on their compatibility with managerial techniques emerging from industries other than healthcare do not abound in the literature.

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) implementation follows a structured approach called define-measure-analyze-improve-control (DMAIC). Earlier research about its application in emergency healthcare services shows that it requires organizational transformation, which many healthcare setups find difficult. The Kotter change management model facilitates organizational transformation but has not been attempted in LSS settings till now. This study aims to integrate the LSS framework with the Kotter change management model to come up with an integrated framework that will facilitate LSS deployment in emergency health services.

Two-stage Delphi method was conducted by using a literature review. First, the success factors and barriers of LSS are investigated, especially from an emergency healthcare point of view. The features and benefits of Kotter's change management models are then reviewed. Subsequently, they are integrated to form a framework specific to LSS deployment in an emergency healthcare set-up. The elements of this framework are analyzed using expert opinion ratings. A new framework for LSS deployment in emergency healthcare has been developed, which can prevent failures due to challenges faced by organizations in overcoming resistance to changes.

The eight steps of the Kotter model such as establishing a sense of urgency, forming a powerful guiding coalition, creating a vision, communicating the vision, empowering others to act on the vision, planning for and creating short-term wins, consolidating improvements and producing still more change, institutionalizing new approaches are derived from the eight common errors that managers make while implementing change in the institution. The study integrated LSS principles and Kotter’s change management model to apply in emergency care units in order to reduce waste and raise the level of service quality provided by healthcare companies.

The present study could contribute knowledge to the literature by providing a framework to integrate lean management and Kotter's change management model for the emergency care unit of the healthcare organization. This framework guides decision-makers and organizations as proper strategies are required for applying lean management practices in any system.

The proposed framework is unique and no other study has prescribed any integrated framework for LSS implementation in emergency healthcare that overcomes resistance to change.

This paper aims to set out the relationship between business process reengineering (BPR) and data warehouse (DW) and identify the advantages brought by the integration of DW technology in BPR projects.

This paper is primarily based on a case study which was conducted in a Tunisian hospital and allowed some lessons to be learned.

Introducing changes in the field of healthcare services has become a necessity to provide better satisfaction to patients and to offer faster services and of better quality. So, the BPR approach can be applied to introduce these changes and provide better satisfaction to recipients of services, i.e. the hospital patients. This study is based on a case study based on the BPR application for healthcare process in some services of Farhat Hached Hospital in Sousse, Tunisia. This case study has mainly contributed to a proposed DW for healthcare services.

The proposed DW and the new corresponding process have not yet been implemented in the real life of the considered services. The research work in this project allowed the provision of detailed and rational justifications for the information technology introduction in BPR applied in healthcare services and in particular to the implementation of the DW concept. In addition to the detailed justifications, the research paper provided the prerequisite for the success of the project as well as its technical specifications and appropriateness to the specifity to the local setting.

The lessons learned were related in one hand to the particularities of BPR projects using the DW technology and on the other hand to the advantages brought by the DW technologies in the BPR projects. The following questions are considered in this paper: what are the particularities of the BPR projects using the DW technology? What are the main contributions of the DW technology to BPR projects?

The UK Government-funded National Health Service (NHS) is experiencing significant pressures because of the complexity of challenges to, and demands of, health-care provision. This situation has driven government policy level support for transformational change initiatives, such as value-based health care (VBHC), through closer alignment and collaboration across the health-care system-life science sector nexus. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the necessary antecedents to collaboration in VBHC through a critical exploration of the existing literature, with a view to establishing the foundations for further development of policy, practice and theory in this field.

A literature review was conducted via searches on Scopus and Google Scholar between 2009 and 2019 for peer-reviewed articles containing keywords and phrases “Value-based healthcare industry” and “healthcare industry collaboration”. Refinement of the results led to the identification of “guiding conditions” (GCs) for collaboration in VBHC.

Five literature-derived GCs were identified as necessary for the successful implementation of initiatives such as VBHC through system-sector collaboration. These are: a multi-disciplinarity; use of appropriate technological infrastructure; capturing meaningful metrics; understanding the total cycle-of-care; and financial flexibility. This paper outlines research opportunities to empirically test the relevance of the five GCs with regard to improving system-sector collaboration on VBHC.

This paper has developed a practical and constructive framework that has the potential to inform both policy and further theoretical development on collaboration in VBHC.

The first three years of operation of the West Kendall Baptist Hospital (WKBH) in Miami, Florida provided a “poster child” for efficient and cost effective healthcare delivery to the West Kendall community that it served. The hospital leadership and management team exemplified a quality-oriented staff that moved as a cohesive and dedicated organization. WKBH exceeded every budget prediction and showed a profit in year 3, well before expected. Then came the winds of regulatory change. With the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the attendant imposition of new reimbursement metrics, the picture at WKBH changed almost overnight. By the first quarter of 2016, WKBH started to lose money in excess of budget predictions despite its increased patient admissions, careful financial planning, expense reductions, quality service, and excellence in patient care delivery. A serious financial crisis was looming with little relief in sight. The hospital management team began to search for solutions.

The research methodology includes collecting quantitative data: original financial statements and financial data from WKBH, as well as qualitative data: interviews of hospital administrators and historical information.

Graduate capstone course in a finance course; masters in health administration; and/or the MBA program.

While it is clear that the ACA was designed with all good intentions, it has created substantial and perhaps, unanticipated financial burdens for caregivers. These issues are not only faced by WKBH. Most hospitals could relate to one or more of the four questions examined as part of this learning process. Graduate MBA students worked with the hospital to identify, define, focus, and resolve difficult quantitative and qualitative issues faced by the hospital as a result of major changes in the regulatory environment with the passage of the ACA. This case focuses upon the current reimbursement environment that has only recently emerged as a result of the implementation of the ACA.