Optimizing neurosurgery clinic operations: a comparative study of interventions in Finland's public healthcare system.

IF 2.7 4区 医学 Q2 HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES
Jukka Huttunen, Timo Koivisto
{"title":"Optimizing neurosurgery clinic operations: a comparative study of interventions in Finland's public healthcare system.","authors":"Jukka Huttunen, Timo Koivisto","doi":"10.1093/intqhc/mzae106","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The Finnish public healthcare system aims to ensure equal access to health services for all but faces challenges in meeting the demand for specialized care, such as neurosurgery, due to resource constraints. This study investigates interventions to increase resources at a neurosurgery outpatient clinic to improve patient care without compromising waiting times for diagnoses and treatments, leveraging Finland's unique healthcare landscape.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study was conducted at Kuopio University Hospital's Department of Neurosurgery, the sole provider of neurosurgical care in Eastern Finland. Two interventions were designed to optimize clinic operations: one focusing on dynamic resource allocation through continuous monitoring and the other on establishing a fixed additional neurosurgeon slot. Process capability and regression analysis were employed to evaluate the effects of these interventions on the number of outpatient visits and the variability in daily patient numbers.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The preliminary analysis showed an average of 9.3 outpatient visits per day (SD 5.2). The introduction of an additional neurosurgeon led to an increase of 5.014 visits per day, according to the regression analysis performed before the interventions. Following the interventions, the clinic observed an increase in the average number of daily outpatient visits to 9.8 after the first intervention and 11.6 after the second, with corresponding improvements in the number of neurosurgeons present. The second intervention, which established a predictable additional resource, resulted in a more significant improvement in process efficiency and stability. After the interventions, the number of new neurosurgical first patient visits increased by 7% (97 patients).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study demonstrates the importance of structured and predictable resource allocation in enhancing the efficiency of specialized healthcare services, particularly in neurosurgery. It also underscores the potential of planned interventions to manage and improve patient care in a publicly funded healthcare system, despite the challenges posed by limited resources and the need for prioritization. Moreover, the findings highlight the necessity of ongoing measurement and analysis of development projects to ensure sustained improvement and avoid regression in process quality.</p>","PeriodicalId":13800,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Quality in Health Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal for Quality in Health Care","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzae106","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: The Finnish public healthcare system aims to ensure equal access to health services for all but faces challenges in meeting the demand for specialized care, such as neurosurgery, due to resource constraints. This study investigates interventions to increase resources at a neurosurgery outpatient clinic to improve patient care without compromising waiting times for diagnoses and treatments, leveraging Finland's unique healthcare landscape.

Methods: The study was conducted at Kuopio University Hospital's Department of Neurosurgery, the sole provider of neurosurgical care in Eastern Finland. Two interventions were designed to optimize clinic operations: one focusing on dynamic resource allocation through continuous monitoring and the other on establishing a fixed additional neurosurgeon slot. Process capability and regression analysis were employed to evaluate the effects of these interventions on the number of outpatient visits and the variability in daily patient numbers.

Results: The preliminary analysis showed an average of 9.3 outpatient visits per day (SD 5.2). The introduction of an additional neurosurgeon led to an increase of 5.014 visits per day, according to the regression analysis performed before the interventions. Following the interventions, the clinic observed an increase in the average number of daily outpatient visits to 9.8 after the first intervention and 11.6 after the second, with corresponding improvements in the number of neurosurgeons present. The second intervention, which established a predictable additional resource, resulted in a more significant improvement in process efficiency and stability. After the interventions, the number of new neurosurgical first patient visits increased by 7% (97 patients).

Conclusion: This study demonstrates the importance of structured and predictable resource allocation in enhancing the efficiency of specialized healthcare services, particularly in neurosurgery. It also underscores the potential of planned interventions to manage and improve patient care in a publicly funded healthcare system, despite the challenges posed by limited resources and the need for prioritization. Moreover, the findings highlight the necessity of ongoing measurement and analysis of development projects to ensure sustained improvement and avoid regression in process quality.

优化神经外科诊所运营:芬兰公共医疗系统干预措施比较研究》。
背景:芬兰公共医疗系统旨在确保所有人都能平等地获得医疗服务,但由于资源限制,在满足神经外科等专科医疗需求方面面临挑战。本研究利用芬兰独特的医疗保健环境,对增加神经外科门诊资源的干预措施进行了调查,以在不影响诊断和治疗等待时间的情况下改善患者护理:研究在库奥皮奥大学医院神经外科进行,该医院是芬兰东部唯一一家神经外科医疗机构。研究设计了两种干预措施来优化诊所的运营:一种是通过持续监控进行动态资源分配,另一种是设立固定的额外神经外科医生名额。我们采用了过程能力和回归分析来评估这些干预措施对门诊病人数量和每日病人数量变化的影响:初步分析显示,平均每天的门诊量为 9.3 人次(标准差为 5.2)。根据干预前进行的回归分析,增加一名神经外科医生后,每天的门诊量增加了 5.014 人次。在采取干预措施后,诊所观察到每日平均门诊量在第一次干预后增加到 9.8 人次,第二次干预后增加到 11.6 人次,同时在场的神经外科医生人数也相应增加。第二次干预建立了可预测的额外资源,使流程效率和稳定性得到了更显著的改善。干预后,新的神经外科首诊患者人数增加了 7%(97 名患者):这项研究表明,结构化和可预测的资源分配对于提高专科医疗服务的效率非常重要,尤其是在神经外科领域。研究还强调,尽管有限的资源带来了挑战,而且需要分清轻重缓急,但有计划的干预措施仍有潜力管理和改善公费医疗系统中的患者护理。此外,研究结果还强调了对发展项目进行持续衡量和分析的必要性,以确保持续改进,避免流程质量倒退。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
CiteScore
4.90
自引率
3.80%
发文量
87
审稿时长
6-12 weeks
期刊介绍: The International Journal for Quality in Health Care makes activities and research related to quality and safety in health care available to a worldwide readership. The Journal publishes papers in all disciplines related to the quality and safety of health care, including health services research, health care evaluation, technology assessment, health economics, utilization review, cost containment, and nursing care research, as well as clinical research related to quality of care. This peer-reviewed journal is truly interdisciplinary and includes contributions from representatives of all health professions such as doctors, nurses, quality assurance professionals, managers, politicians, social workers, and therapists, as well as researchers from health-related backgrounds.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信