Operations management of units

This chapter elaborates on the most important concepts for unit operations management used in Health Service Operations Management and provides definitions. A unit is a part of an organisation with specific resources available for the services offered by the unit. The main aim in the management of units is to be able to cope with the demand for services, having capacity available when needed in order to avoid long waiting times for patients. On the other hand, units also have to use their capacity efficiently and try to reduce costs. The resources of a unit have several characteristics that influence the way resources are scheduled and allocated to patients, such as leading and following resources, shared and dedicated resources. A resource has a capacity which is the ability to produce services. Different forms of capacity can be distinguished, ranging from the potential capacity to available capacity and useable capacity and to utilised capacity and productive capacity. The core of unit operations management is capacity management, which can be defined as matching demand and capacity at different levels of planning. This is further elaborated in this chapter. Different scheduling systems for unit services are discussed: walk-in, appointment, waiting list. At the tactical level master schedules define the availability of resources for a number of weeks ahead. At the operational level these allocations are used for day-to-day scheduling of patients. Buffers – in the form of extra capacity or waiting time – are used to match demand and supply.