Project Delivery Systems for Healthcare Projects: To Lean or Not to Lean (original) (raw)
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Enhancing Healthcare Project Definition with Lean-Led Design
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Decisions regarding project definition have a significant impact on client value generation. However, although this phase is of utmost importance, traditional management practices are inadequate, as the focus is rather on budget and technical aspects leaving aside the functional ones. Neglecting the functional aspects could have serious consequences on the operation and thus quality of workspace, especially in complex projects including hospitals that involve multiple clients and with a high degree of uncertainty of change. The Lean-led Design approach provides a participative solution which involves the main project clients, namely the users (doctors, patients, etc.), project managers, and the government, with the intention of delivering facilities with a better fit for purpose and use. The main objective of the paper is to develop a framework that summarizes the steps leading to the implementation of such an approach during the project definition of a new hospital. The methodology...
Purpose:The position paper explores the value and role of Lean methodology in healthcare projects. The objective of the research is to review the topic of Lean healthcare with the intention of recognizing its merits and limitations. It replies to the criticism surrounding the application of Lean in hospital projects. Through an ethnographic case study, the research identifies the position of the researchers supporting the continuous application of Lean performance improvement in the context of project management within the healthcare sector. This study aims to encourage researchers and healthcare leaders to rethink the role of Lean healthcare and work on innovative ways to streamline healthcare projects to address its challenges appropriately. Design/methodology/approach:This paper is supported by a real example of a public hospital in the UAE that has succeeded in applying Lean and by responses to criticism of opponents of the Lean application in hospital projects based on a literature review of peer-reviewed publications. Findings:This paper highlights the strong links between highly reliable healthcare provision to patients in hospitals and Lean methodology. In this study, we found through an ethnographic case study that hospitals that invest in Lean brought value to the patients and decreased unproductive work. The findings will highlight several benefits of Lean in healthcare projects. This paper ends with conclusions and recommendations that highlight further research that can rise to the criticism of Lean methodology and enhance and revitalize its use in practice. Originality/value: This research illustrates the potential link between high reliability healthcare and Lean methodology in hospitals to stimulate further discussion and enable more evidence-based decision making for the researchers and policy makers about adopting Lean as a performance improvement strategy.This research shows the value of an auto-ethnographic view on Lean management learning as a tool for performance improvement in healthcare projects.
Definitive versus agile project methodologies in Healthcare
2019
There are many successful completed projects throughout the history of human existence long before the Institute Of Project Management existed. The enormous success of many historical colossal projects as great pyramids that required enormous workforce with careful planning and execution, is proof that project management knowledge and practice dates to ancient history (Seymour &Hussein, 2014, pg. 233). This is irrespective of the uncertainties and complexities involved in completing such massive projects without modern tools, knowledge and skills, which would make the failure of such projects imminent. It is not until the late 20th century that project management was established as a profession, and the critical skills and knowledge in managing projects successfully extensively documented. Similarly, it is until recently that project management institute adopted a clear definition of what constitutes project management According to The Project Management Institute, project management is the application of knowledge, skills, techniques and tools to meet the requirements of a project (PMI, 2018). Other definitions identify project management as the art and science involved in the initiation, planning, management and implementation of a project (Hyttinen, 2017 pg.16). Although diverse, these definitions reveal the basic characteristic of project management as the application of process, skills, knowledge, and experience to achieve the set objective of a particular project. Presently, project management has extended from the construction and manufacturing to service industries such as information technology as well as in healthcare. In other industries, basic aspects of project management are something new has to be undertaken based on a specified schedule and with limited organizational resources( Shirley, 2011, pg. 3). Therefore, the approach used is also critical in order to achieve set objectives and planed results. In the United Kingdom, system development projects contribute to 21% of the gross value added in construction and manufacturing (Wells, 2012, pg. 43). This is an indication of the significance of the project management methodologies across the private and the public sector. However, according to Shirley (2011: pg. 8), project management in healthcare is unique in several ways to project management in other sectors. This is because the difference in the skills of the practitioners rather the technology or methodology has the greatest impact. In addition, the success is focused on achieving greater customer satisfaction and improving their experience rather than ensuring the product works; an example in healthcare industry, a surgical procedure has been performed well from the point of the surgery staff, but after a day, the patient got fever (Hospital-acquired-infection). So, the surgery succeeded, but the patient’s visit failed. Existing research acknowledges the significance of project management in avoiding problems and difficulties experienced in medical research projects such as the missing deadlines, budget overruns and problems with various stakeholders (Payne et al, 2011, pg. 2). Although the success of applying project management in healthcare is widely acknowledged, it is clear that the choice of appropriate methodology can have a wider impact in terms of improved efficiency, faster delivery, the role of efficient decision-making, and several other aspects. This essay investigates the use of the two project management approaches, the definitive and iterative processes focusing on agile and waterfall project management approaches to identify their appropriateness when applied to the healthcare sector.
Extended Abstract, Its purpose is to investigate critical success factors (CSFs) for effective diffusion of Lean innovation in healthcare projects in the UAE. It is mainly to investigate the dynamics of the effort to implement Lean principles to realize improvements in healthcare performance for sustainable development in a public health system. The research is to explore, through a case study, how the innovative ideas critical to the successful implementation of Lean were able to be diffused effectively.
Information Systems and Technology Projects in Healthcare Organizations
Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology 4th Edition, Chapter 326, 2017
The challenges facing healthcare organizations require more comprehensive and integrated solutions and efficient resource management as a means of eliminating inefficiencies and of achieving promised benefits. In academic literature, information systems and technology (IS/IT) have been recognized as being an organizational capability that can lead to competitive advantage and better performance (Bharadwaj 2000; Kohli & Devaraj 2003). Organizations recognize project management as being a fundamental tool for the development of initiatives which lead to the implementation of the organizational strategies (Crawford, 2005; Hodgson, 2002). One way that the effectiveness of IS/IT project management capability has been assessed is through the use of maturity models, with the underlying assumption that higher levels of project management maturity imply a higher effectiveness of project management capability (Kwak & Ibbs 2002; Sonnekus & Labuschagne, 2004). Our research focuses on the combination of the project management and maturity models approaches as a means of strengthening the final results of IS/IT projects in the healthcare sector. It is the authors' belief that this combination of approaches enhances not only the success of projects, but also the realization of the expected benefits. It is also important to emphasize that, by taking advantage of the specific features of each of these approaches, their structure will certainly increase the effectiveness of IS/IT projects in the health sector, by enhancing both the confidence of sponsors and investors, and also the achievement of the promise benefits.
Study on Techniques and Tools Used in Lean Healthcare Implementation: A Literature Review
Brazilian Journal of Operations & Production Management
Lately, Lean philosophy is increasingly gaining importance due to a competitive environment, which creates the need of reducing costs. Lean practices and tools have been applied to manufacturing, services, supply chains, startups and the next frontier is Healthcare. Most of lean techniques can be easily brought to Healthcare organizations. Therefore, this paper aims to summarize Lean practices and tools which are already being applied to Healthcare organizations. As its main results, we can highlight main authors, papers and number of publications per year and so, this paper can be used as a guideline for Lean implementations in Healthcare organizations.