Industrial Engineers

Overview and Application Areas 

This document discusses some examples (not all inclusive) of the diversity of projects/activities that a management engineer typically gets involved with in his/her organization.  As in any industry, the industrial engineer or management engineer can have a major impact on the success of the organization by providing value added results.  The methodologies used by an industrial engineer or management engineer are applicable in many different healthcare settings, including:

    •  acute care facilities

    •  long term care facilities

    •  skilled nursing facilities

    •  home care agencies

    •  outpatient clinics

    •  insurance organizations, and

    •  physician practices/offices.

Common Methodologies Used 

Obviously the specific application may vary due to the particular setting, but the underlying methodology is the same.  Some of the more common methodologies as used in health care are described below and include:

    •  Scheduling Patients and Staff

    •  Space Planning and Utilization

    •  Organization Structure Evaluation

    •  Benchmarking

    •  Cost Reduction/Containment

    •  Computer Simulation

    •  Data Analysis and Presentation

    •  Quality Improvement Teams

    •  Work Redesign (Reengineering)

    •  Information Systems

    •  Materials Management

    •  Physician Practice Profiling

    •  Physician Office/Practice Consulting

A major determining factor of the types of projects undertaken depends upon where the department reports in the organization.  For example, if the management engineering department reports through operations, they typically probably will spend a lot of time on operational issues; to finance, on financial projects, etc.  In order to support the overall strategic direction of the organization, management engineers need to be closely linked to the executive level of the organization, and some departments therefore report...