Tunis Med. 2021;99(5):531-537.
Waiting time is often viewed as the main source of dissatisfaction in public healthcare organizations in general and outpatient departments in particular. To address this issue, one alternative is to accelerate the patient flow by identifying and reducing bottlenecks.
The Value Stream Mapping (VSM) of the patient care process in a pneumology outpatient department in Tunisia allows to (i) model the process by representing its activities and the corresponding flows, (ii) identify and quantify non-value-added activities and (iii) measure the global performance by calculating the patients length of stay as well as the total percentage of added value of the process.
The current Value Stream Mapping (VSM) identified and quantified waiting times and patient movements leading to a total added value rate below 11%. The analysis revealed three root causes: an ineffective directional signage, an inappropriate appointment scheduling and an inefficient management of medical records.
The results of this study help managers to identify improvement opportunities that can accelerate patient flow. By including this study as part of a continuous improvement approach, it would be possible to periodically evaluate the performance of the process in order to monitor the outpatient pneumology department in a more efficient manner.
在一般的公共医疗机构中，等候时间通常被视为不满意的主要来源，尤其是在门诊部。为了解决这个问题，可以选择通过识别和减少瓶颈来加速患者流动。
突尼斯呼吸科门诊部患者护理流程的价值流图 (VSM) 可用于 (i) 通过表示其活动和相应的流程来建模该流程，(ii) 识别和量化非增值活动，以及 (iii) 通过计算患者的停留时间以及流程的总增值百分比来衡量整体绩效。
当前的价值流图 (VSM) 确定并量化了导致总增值率低于 11%的等待时间和患者流动。分析揭示了三个根本原因：方向指示牌无效、预约安排不当以及病历管理效率低下。
本研究的结果有助于管理人员识别可以加速患者流动的改进机会。通过将本研究纳入持续改进方法的一部分，可以定期评估流程的绩效，以便以更有效的方式监测门诊肺病科。
