Flavor of the day: management of healthcare resources

Summary form only given. Rampant changes in the delivery of Canada´s healthcare system are driven by deep cuts, which have resulted in lost economic and productive opportunities. This study examines the management techniques employed by a large 750-bed teaching hospital in managing its operating budget. It also illustrates an application of a stochastic MRI model an as example of applying sound engineering management techniques to solve process problems. Use of engineering management techniques such as stochastic modeling will improve operating and economic efficiencies, which are all, aimed towards long-term healthcare reform. While the management techniques used by hospital administrators were effective in some capacity, they were deficient in other respects. In this paper, the authors introduce stochastic modeling to overcome these deficiencies presented by the previously used techniques. Stochastic modeling presented administrators with a more realistic approach to analyzing process problems. An MRI process is modeled using this approach. Administrators were able to observe the probable outcome associated with achieving targeted outputs. Management could perform scenario related analysis by varying output levels to observe different cost structures. This model is further discussed in-depth within the paper