Time studies in A&E departments - a useful tool for management

A time and motion study was conducted in an accident and emergency (A&E) department in a Hong Kong Government hospital in order to suggest solutions for severe queuing problems found in A&E. The study provided useful information about the patterns of arrival and service; the throughput; and...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of management in medicine 1996-06, Vol.10 (3), p.15-22
Main Authors: Aharonson-Daniel, L, Fung, H, Hedley, A.J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents
Appointments and Schedules
Emergency Service, Hospital - organization & administration
Emergency Service, Hospital - utilization
Health administration
Health Services Research
Hong Kong
Hospitals
Hospitals, Public - utilization
Humans
Operations planning
Time and Motion Studies
Time Management
Time study
Waiting Lists
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A time and motion study was conducted in an accident and emergency (A&E) department in a Hong Kong Government hospital in order to suggest solutions for severe queuing problems found in A&E. The study provided useful information about the patterns of arrival and service; the throughput; and the factors that influence the length of the queue at the A&E department. Plans for building a computerized simulation model were dropped as new intelligence generated by the study enabled problem solving using simple statistical analysis and common sense. Demonstrates some potential benefits for management in applying operations research methods in busy clinical working environments. The implementation of the recommendations made by this study successfully eliminated queues in A&E.
ISSN:0268-9235
1758-7441
DOI:10.1108/02689239610122270