PSCPF: planning, scheduling and control of patient flow

Abstract

Paper aims

Lack of operational planning in healthcare organizations may result in service disconnection and reduced value per effort to the patient. Production Planning, Scheduling and Control assists in determining “what,” “how much,” “when” and “where” to deliver, which may be of great relevance to healthcare services. This study proposes a structural framework and analyzes the implementation of PPSC concepts in OR management.

Originality

The application of concepts from manufacturing applied to healthcare as the PPSC, present in this text, demonstrates the crossing and alignment of global management techniques and tools applicable to both areas.

Research method

The discussion is based on data gathered through action-research in a Brazilian public hospital.

Main findings

In the hospital under study, the PSCPF implementation resulted in increased production control of surgeries, increased efficiency in management of waiting lists, increased operational efficiency, and motivational gains from staff integration.

Implications for theory and practice

The understanding and proper implementation of the concept of PPSC contributed to mitigate problems related to capacity management, reduced the unawareness of different levels of demand and waiting lists, cut down scheduling errors, and prevented the provision of false information from the disconnection between the various areas of the hospital.

Keywords
Healthcare management; Lean healthcare; Production planning and control; Patient flow; Operating room