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Improving the Flow of Patients Through Healthcare Organizations

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Handbook of Healthcare Operations Management

Part of the book series: International Series in Operations Research & Management Science ((ISOR,volume 184))

Abstract

Healthcare organizations face a challenging operational environment characterized by uncertain demand, the need to deliver highly complex and specialized services, and increasing pressure to provide better quality care to more patients at lower total cost. Healthcare organizations invest substantial financial resources into the human, technological, and structural assets needed to provide a wide range of healthcare services. Determining how much capacity is made available, how that capacity is allocated to patients, and how various specialized units in the organization coordinate their activities are important drivers of performance. In particular, healthcare organizations continuously evaluate the flow of patients through the organization as different healthcare services are provided. If patients do not flow smoothly through the healthcare delivery process, either due to inadequate capacity or the inefficient use of capacity, then patient satisfaction and quality of care can suffer. This chapter provides an overview of the concept of patient flow as one measure of the quality and effectiveness of healthcare delivery, examines some of the most significant challenges to improving patient flow, provides an overview of prior operations research related to patient flow, and discusses current factors that are driving future research opportunities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Robins School of Business, University of Richmond, 1 Gateway Road, Richmond, VA, 23173, USA

    Steven M. Thompson

  2. University of Connecticut, 2100 Hillside Road, U-1041, Storrs, CT, 06269-1041, USA

    Robert Day & Robert Garfinkel

Authors
  1. Steven M. Thompson
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  2. Robert Day
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  3. Robert Garfinkel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Steven M. Thompson .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , IOE Department, University of Michigan, Beal Ave 1205, Ann Arbor, 48109, Michigan, USA

    Brian T. Denton

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Thompson, S.M., Day, R., Garfinkel, R. (2013). Improving the Flow of Patients Through Healthcare Organizations. In: Denton, B. (eds) Handbook of Healthcare Operations Management. International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, vol 184. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5885-2_7

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