How improving access times had unforeseen consequences: a case study in a Dutch hospital

ObjectivesTo investigate the consequences of increasing capacity to reduce access times, and to explore how patient waiting times and use of physical capacity were influenced by variability.DesignA retrospective case study that combines both primary and secondary data. Secondary data were retrieved...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ open 2019-09, Vol.9 (9), p.e031244-e031244
Main Authors: Roemeling, Oskar, Ahaus, Kees, van Zanten, Folkert, Land, Martin, Wennekes, Patrick
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
buffers
Case reports
Family physicians
Health Services Research
Hospital costs
hospitals
Intensive care
Medical referrals
Patient safety
patient waiting times
Rheumatology
Teaching hospitals
variability
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Summary:ObjectivesTo investigate the consequences of increasing capacity to reduce access times, and to explore how patient waiting times and use of physical capacity were influenced by variability.DesignA retrospective case study that combines both primary and secondary data. Secondary data were retrieved from a hospital database to establish inflow and outflow of patients, utilisation of resources and available capacity, realised access times and the weekly number of new patients seen over 1 year. Primary data consisted of field notes, onsite visits and observations, and semistructured interviews.SettingA secondary care facility, that is, a rheumatology department, in a large Dutch hospital.ParticipantsAnalyses are based on secondary patient data from the hospital database, and the responses of the interviews with physicians, nurses and Lean Six Sigma project leaders.ResultsThe study shows that artificial variability was increased by managerial decisions to add capacity and to allow an increased inflow of new patients. This, in turn, resulted in undesirable and significant fluctuations in access times. We argue that we witnessed a new multiplier effect that typifies the fluctuations.ConclusionsAdding capacity resources to reduce access times might appear an obvious and effective solution. However, the outcomes were less straightforward than expected, and even led to new artificial variability. The study reveals a phenomenon that is specific to service environments, and especially healthcare, and has detrimental consequences for access times.
ISSN:2044-6055
2044-6055
DOI:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-031244