Northwest General Case Study

2015_Spring_BA2020EOL51

Due Date: 01/31/2015

Cathy Bostic

The Emergency Room at Northwest General Case Study

1. Discuss the pros and cons of using average demand to access capacity requirements. Is this a reasonable approach for the ER? Capacity planning is a long term strategic decision and is the foundations for establishing the level of resources required to effectively run the business. Establishing the right capacity planning method is crucial in this case because it affects staff responsiveness, operating cost, ability to compete, patient wait time etc. Inadequate capacity planning can lead to increase cost and loss of profits. Too much capacity can drain company’s resources and prevent future investment. The best way for me to analyze the pros and cons of average demand in reference to the Northwest General ER room, is to break down the pros and the cons into categories

Pro

* Using the average demand to access the capacity requirements will allow the ER room to run efficiently at average capacity and could be pushed beyond if necessary.

* Great tool to calculate service capacity, equipment, waiting room, beds, etc.

* Average demand calculates minimum output rate

Cons

* Using the average demand to access the capacity requirement although can be pushed over cannot be pushed for long because eventually it will not be able to keep up with the pace efficiently. Northwest General is the only major hospital in the area between Seattle and Vancouver, it is always busy. During tourist season and travel months the population swells by as much as thirty percent. It is a reasonable forecast that the ER room may be pushed beyond the average demand capacity, for an extended period at any given time; this would affect the efficiency of the ER room which will in time put patients as well as employees lives at risk.

* Average demand calculates the minimum output rate

* Using average demand can be misleading.

* When planning capacity...