According to Langabeer and Helton (2016), there are many evolving trends in healthcare operations management and they are: Standardization, Optimization, Resource tracking systems, Integrated service delivery, Supply chain management, Analytics, Evidence-based healthcare, Six Sigma, IT; mobile devices, Asset and Patient tracking system, Return on investment, Outsourcing and Globalization.
Standardization; the streamlining of operations and establishing particular procedures and protocols create an affordable culture for the organization. It is a principle that has helped in transforming aspects of healthcare industry, though a relatively new concept in the industry when compared to how long other industries have used it. Standardization can be used to manage change successfully by building the changes into the standard, can also be used to sustain improvement once achieved, many times standardization allows for definable and predictable clinical processes, (Mate & Rakover, 2016)
It is a good tool for cost reduction, in today’s operations management, that is, the use of the same basic medical supplies instead of variety will reduce inventory and create economies of scale. Even higher productivity is achieved. For example when information system is common, it is easier for staff to communicate, job rotation, cross functional cooperation etcetera.
Globalization in healthcare operations management means healthcare organizations are no longer geographically challenged and for better or worse the sector is on the global village bandwagon. Due to globalization, competition is no longer restricted to one’s region, that is because of the removal of trade barriers, improved communication across the world, technological advancements, Cultural integration and so on. The race to best quality at the lowest possible price is an evolving trend that fuels competition and is here to stay, with only the innovative managers surviving and/or thriving in today's world. For example with telehealth (video conferencing between healthcare professional and patient), doctors can attend to patients in a different geographical zone (this increases the organization’s billable base/hours), doctors can participate in surgeries remotely (improving learning and mentoring opportunities), monitoring patient’s condition, provide field support to emergency medical services staff etcetera.
"A key driver of the cost and quality of healthcare delivery is the logistics process" in the supply chain management, research has shown that to achieve further improvement in the logistics process there has to be increased use of technology through data accumulation, information sharing etcetera (Smith, Natchmann & Pohl, 2012).
Whichever trend(s) my organization is leaning towards; it must be able to comprehensively incorporate into daily practice; I as a manager should be able to achieve "the improvement of costs, reduce variability and improve logistics flows, improve productivity, improve quality of customer service, and continuously improve business processes." (Langabeer & Helton).
References
Langabeer, J.R. II. & Helton, J.(2016). Health Care Operations Management: A Systems Perspective. 2. Jones & Bartlett Learning Pp25-29
Mate, K. S. & Rakover, J. (2016, November 9th). 4 Steps To Sustaining Improvement In HealthCare. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/11/4-steps-to-sustaining-improvement-in-health-care
Smith, B. K,. Nachtmann, H,. & Pohl, E. A., (2012). Improving Healthcare Supply Chain Processes Via Data Standardization. Taylor & Francis Ltd. Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/1014055279?accountid=34773
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