Process Improvement
Not what you're looking for?
Week 3 Assignment
Applying Methods of Process Improvement to Improve Productivity
Consider the following scenario:
Terry is a senior histology lab technician at a large urban hospital. He is responsible for overseeing a team of six junior technicians to process samples for testing. Recently, the hospital has introduced a new process whereby the senior histology lab technician must visually accept and approve the findings of the junior technicians in order for samples to be cleared and entered into the electronic health record for disease diagnosis. Terry has been able to meet this new need for the past few months. However, as more cases are entering the histology lab, cases have started to become backlogged. Additionally, the histology lab hours are restricted to business hours; this has severely impacted the processing of histology samples. Terry is worried that the approval process is not efficient and that perhaps a second senior histology lab technician should be hired to meet around-the-clock demand.
As a current or future health care administrator, how might you address the productivity lag in the histology lab in the scenario?
For this Assignment, review Case 2, "Noninvasive Cardiovascular Laboratory" in Chapter 8 of the text, Managing Health Services Organizations and Systems. Reflect on how you, as a current or future health care administrator, might be required to identify opportunities to improve productivity in an HSO. What types of information might you need to gather? How might you identify whether a process improvement opportunity exists? Then, review the Week 3 Case Questions document in this week's Learning Resources to complete the Assignment.
The Assignment (3-5 pages):
• Complete the case questions presented.
• Create a fish bone diagram and a flow diagram that represent an analysis of the processes for improvement and implementation approaches to support your answers to the case questions.
• Be sure to support your answers with support from the literature.
Submit the Assignment by Day 7.
Purchase this Solution
Solution Summary
Process improvement to improve productivity is determined. Senior histology lab technicians are examined.
Solution Preview
Applying Methods of Process Improvement to Improve Productivity
Consider the following scenario:
Terry is a senior histology lab technician at a large urban hospital. He is responsible for overseeing a team of six junior technicians to process samples for testing. Recently, the hospital has introduced a new process whereby the senior histology lab technician must visually accept and approve the findings of the junior technicians in order for samples to be cleared and entered into the electronic health record for disease diagnosis. Terry has been able to meet this new need for the past few months. However, as more cases are entering the histology lab, cases have started to become backlogged. Additionally, the histology lab hours are restricted to business hours; this has severely impacted the processing of histology samples. Terry is worried that the approval process is not efficient and that perhaps a second senior histology lab technician should be hired to meet around-the-clock demand.
As a current or future health care administrator, how might you address the productivity lag in the histology lab in the scenario?
To address the productivity lag, the healthcare administrator must facilitate a flexible workflow process that is capable of ensuring that a smooth operation is conducted throughout the entire healthcare organization. The first question to ascertain by the healthcare administrator is whether the current process at the organization is in accordance with the healthcare needs and operational functions within the healthcare organization. There are several workflow processes that need to be understood, which require continuous information flows wherein the healthcare administrator needs to determine how the ...
Education
- BS, Sam Houston State University, 1903 University Avenue, Huntsville, Tx 77340
- MS, Prairie View A&M University
Recent Feedback
- "awesome"
- "awesome"
- "Awesome appreciate the assistance."
- "Thanks awesome. more to follow"
- "awesome, Thanks for the assistance"
Purchase this Solution
Free BrainMass Quizzes
Labor and Delivery
Do you know about the stages of delivery? Find out with this quiz!
First Aid
Do you know how to provide first aid?
Crohn's Disease
How much do you know about this condition?
What everyone should know about MRSA
This quiz focuses on what everyone should know about community MRSA. Community MSRA is an infection in healthy people.
Test your health planning and program evaluation knowledge
Health planning and program evaluation is an important aspect of the Health Sciences' field. Organizations and communities must understand the needs of their audiences, and a way to obtain this datum is through proper design and assessment. This quiz will test your ability to understand the importance of planning and evaluation in the health sector.