Productivity potentials at hospital wards – The case of pharmaceuticals dispensing

Paper in proceeding, 2016

The Swedish healthcare provides a high quality of care. However, it is costly and productivity is low and decreasing. In order to meet the future demands for healthcare, productivity needs to be increased. This can be achieved by using work-studies to improve work methods, reducing non-value added activities on a detailed level. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the potential productivity increase by improving resource efficiency through the use of work-studies and inspire fellow production engineers and researchers to utilize these methods, which have been neglected in both academia and practice, and engage in increasing the productivity of healthcare work. A work sampling study was conducted at a care ward at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. One of the most reoccurring and time-consuming activities for registered nurses was selected in collaboration with care ward personnel for in-depth analysis. A sequence of the activity, dispense pharmaceuticals, was video recorded and the preparation of pharmaceuticals was analyzed by Sequential Activity and Methods Analysis. By redesigning the work method a potential 287.1% productivity increase can be achieved. This empirical research provides evidence that dramatic productivity increase can be achieved in healthcare with limited effort.