DIIM-Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Catania, Italy.
J Health Organ Manag. 2009;23(4):376-95. doi: 10.1108/14777260910979281.
The healthcare industry is facing several challenges such as the reduction of costs and quality improvement of the provided services. Engineering studies could be very useful in supporting organizational and management processes. Healthcare service efficiency depends on a strong collaboration between clinical and engineering experts, especially when it comes to analyzing the system and its constraints in detail and subsequently, when it comes to deciding on the reengineering of some key activities. The purpose of this paper is to propose a case study showing how a mix of representation tools allow a manager of a radiology department to solve some human and technological resource re-organizational issues, which have to be faced due to the introduction of a new technology and a new portfolio of services.
DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: In order to simulate the activities within the radiology department and examine the relationship between human and technological resources, different visual diagrammatic language (VDL) techniques have been implemented to get knowledge about the heterogeneous factors related to the healthcare service delivery. In particular, flow charts, IDEFO diagrams and Petri nets have been integrated each other with success as a modelisation tools.
The simulation study performed through the application of the aforementioned VDL techniques suggests the opportunity of re-organizing the nurse activities within the radiology department.
ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The re-organization of a healthcare service and in particular of a radiology department by means of joint flow charts, IDEF0 diagrams and Petri nets is a poorly investigated topic in literature. This paper demonstrates how flow charts and IDEF0 can help people working within the department to understand the weak points of their organization and constitute an efficient base of knowledge for the implementation of a Petri net aimed at improving the departmental performance.
医疗保健行业面临着诸多挑战，如成本降低和服务质量提高。工程研究在支持组织和管理流程方面非常有用。医疗保健服务的效率取决于临床和工程专家之间的紧密合作，特别是在详细分析系统及其约束条件以及随后决定对一些关键活动进行再工程时。本文旨在提出一个案例研究，展示如何结合表示工具，使放射科经理能够解决由于引入新技术和新服务组合而必须面对的一些人力和技术资源重新组织问题。
设计/方法/方法：为了模拟放射科的活动并检查人力和技术资源之间的关系，已经实施了不同的可视化图表语言（VDL）技术，以获取与医疗保健服务提供相关的异构因素的知识。特别是，流程图、IDEFO 图和 Petri 网已成功地相互集成，作为建模工具。
通过应用上述 VDL 技术进行的模拟研究表明，放射科护士活动有重新组织的机会。
原创性/价值：通过联合流程图、IDEFO 图和 Petri 网对医疗服务，特别是放射科进行重新组织，在文献中是一个研究甚少的主题。本文演示了流程图和 IDEFO 如何帮助科室工作人员了解其组织的薄弱环节，并为实施旨在提高部门绩效的 Petri 网提供有效的知识库基础。
