Title: Operations management theory and the management of medical technology

Authors: Curtis P. McLaughlin, Kit N. Simpson

Addresses: Kenan-Flagler Business School and Department, of Health Policy and Administration, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3490, USA. Health Service Research Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

Abstract: Operations management utilises a wide range of bodies of knowledge to develop, design and implement improved service delivery processes. Therefore, process analysis is at the heart of its intellectual content. Because healthcare is a service, the analysis skills required must focus on processes which are adapted to high degrees of inherent variability. Evaluation of new processes has long been a focus of industrial engineers in healthcare organisations. Today, with the emphasis on cost and quality control, the skills of quality analysis and benefit and cost analysis are key attributes of health-oriented technology management activity. This chapter discusses in detail the skills of operations management that seem to fit well into technology management and suggests a process for their application.

Keywords: operations management; systems analysis; benefit-cost analysis; cost-effectiveness analysis; simulation; services management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.2000.001082

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2000 Vol.2 No.1/2/3/4, pp.181-203

Published online: 30 Jun 2003 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article