Re-engineering the outpatient process flow of a multi-speciality hospital

Abstract

Manufacturing concepts such as Just-in-Time, Lean and Six-Sigma, Japanese 5S, Materials Requirement Planning, Scheduling and Capacity Management have been applied in the Healthcare industries in the West for the last decade and has yielded positive results. In this study, these concepts and philosophies have been applied to an Indian Multi-speciality Hospital to improve its OPD process flow and increase patient satisfaction. The Outpatients Department (OPD) is usually the most crowded sector in a hospital. The frequent problems encountered include the waiting period for consultation, an unpredictable number of Walk-in patients, insufficient and operationally deficient OPD reception staff and unattended appointment patients. This study aims at, identifying methods to standardise OPD operations management. It has made the process more efficient through optimum resource utilisation. This will increase patient satisfaction by meeting and exceeding their expectations while maintaining quality of care. This research was conducted by mapping the process flow and using the data that was collected through an observational, cross-sectional, non-interventional study. Though there were a comprehensive set of recommendations at the end of the study, only a few could be implemented due to the introduction of a new Hospital Information System (HIS) software putting the implementation plan on hold.