After this course, the student can:
- describe the basic principles of OM
- classify planning functions in the framework for planning and control
- explain the steps in an improvement project
- describe the impact of variability
- determine which OM-tools to use for analyzing and optimizing processes in a specific health care situation
- implement the tools in Excel
- use the tools provided in settings discussed in the lectures, and in new settings
- draw conclusions from the analyses done
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The objective of this course is to provide students with various tools/instruments for the analysis and optimization of health care delivery processes. These tools make use of basic quantitative techniques from mathematics and spreadsheet software (Excel). In this way, we deepen the knowledge gained in basic OM courses. Besides providing tools, the usefulness of the tools in different healthcare applications will be shown. Operations Management is the activity of managing the resources which are devoted to the production and delivery of products and services. It is a broad topic including, among others, planning and scheduling, capacity management, inventory control, warehousing, maintenance management, and transportation. These different topics have been studied extensively for applications in industry, but applications in health care had not been studied until quite recently. These recent studies conclude that huge savings are possible by applying OM concepts in health care. The University of Twente is a major player in this research area, collaborating with health care institutes all over the Netherlands. This collaboration takes place on several fronts, including student projects on bachelor, master, and PhD level.
Applying these OM concepts, however, is not an easy job. Healthcare managers often do not have a background in OM, while OM experts are trained for jobs in industry. And although there are quite some similarities, there are also some important differences between industry and healthcare. This course intends to fill this gap by training Health Sciences students in OM topics. It assumes that students have had a general introduction to OM, and deepens this knowledge by providing tools and instruments for analyzing and optimizing health care delivery processes and showing their usefulness in health care settings. The student is provided with OM tools that can be used in healthcare analysis and optimization. More specifically, the course will discuss (among others): Queuing Theory, Linear Programming, Simulation, Quality Control, Project Management, Decision Theory, Reliability, Productivity, and Variability.
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