Healthcare Operations Roles and Goals

Health Care Operations Management Roles and Goals

Operations management is typically referred to as an area of business processes that are focused on the production of goods/services, and requires that the business operations are effective in using resources as well as meeting customer needs/demands. Healthcare Operations Management is a discipline that integrates scientific principles of management to determine the most efficient and optimal methods to support patient care delivery (Langabeer, 2008). There are many roles and goals of health care operations managers that must be reviewed on a daily basis.

Roles of Operations Management

The primary role of operations management is to convert inputs to outputs. Inputs are defined as the resources and assets of an organization such as labor and capital, including cash, technology, personnel, space, equipment, and information (Langabeer, 2008). Outputs are traditionally referred to as the actual production and delivery of health care services. Operation management personnel will work, on a daily basis, to ensure that the inputs of the organization are creating and delivering quality health care services to their clients (patients).

Within the primary role of operations management there are key functions that will assist in completing their tasks. These functions include: workflow process, physical layouts, capacity design and planning, physical network optimization, staffing levels and productivity management, supply chain and logistics management, and quality planning and process improvement (Langabeer, 2008). These functions and tasks are not easy and operations management personnel will face difficult challenges on an on-going basis in fulfilling the role of their positions.

Goals of Operations Management

There are five main goals of operations management. They include: reduce costs, reduce variability and improve logistics flow, improve productivity, improve quality of customer service, and...