Health Care Operations Management
Abstract Operations management is the management of processes or systems that create goods and provide services. Operations management consists of all activities directly related to producing goods or providing services. ... The health care industry is unique in that the goods and services produced are a complex combination of tangible goods and customer service. This paper will introduce the concept of operations management and how operations management is important to the health care industry. Health Care Operations Management Health care is a combination of service and manufacturing operations. The distinction between service operations and manufacturing operations is based on the nature of the work, degree of consumer contact, quality assurance and uniformity of output. Health care is a customizable service that requires a different diagnosis for each patient and analysis on case-by-case basis. ... Also, service operations are subject to greater variability of inputs than typical manufacturing operations. ... Operations management focuses on carefully managing the processes to produce and distribute products and services.