Capacity & Process management – lectures
1. Introduction to the course & balancing Capacity & Demand
Service management
Characteristics of services
• Intangible
• Non-transferrable ownership
• Customer participation
• Simultaneous creation and use
• Heterogeneity
• Perishable – Gone away after the service is done - You cannot store it
All these characteristics have influence on how we use and plan services
Explicit services: clearly visible (after surgery the patients feels well)
Implicit services: not visible (nice environment in the waiting room / being friendly / feeling safe)
Information: about content or organization of the service (good & understandable way?)
Facilitating goods: second place (with products it’s first place), medical equipment etc
Supporting facility: building, parking place
→ Together they make the service experience – combination
Operations management: the control of activities involved in producing goods and providing services, and the
study of the best ways to do this – Cambridge dictionary
Health service operations management: analysis, design, planning and control of all the steps necessary to
provide services for patients in such a way that their needs are met, that service standards are met, and
resources are used efficiently
,HSOM: Process – Unit – Network
• Unit
A department in a health organization that performs operations of the same operation type
• Process/chain
Series of operations that need to be performed to produce a particular service
• Network
Combination of units and chains performing operations for services for several groups of clients
Frequently used (also in group assignment):
Balancing capacity & demand
1. Levels of planning
, Levels of planning:
1. Strategic level: about investments, strive to have enough capacity available for the lower levels.
Planning horizon = 2 years or further
2. Tactical level: divide this available capacity to different specialities / patient groups. Planning about
what we expect to have in the demand and division of available capacity. Historical data and prognosis.
3. Operational level: scheduling of patients. Can be waiting list → plan for next week / patient planning
system.
Example levels of planning:
Exam question: Reservation of capacity at the end of each morning for the CAT scan for semi-urgent patients is
an example of? →Tactical scheduling, because we do not have a specific patient (operational) but a patient
group. Strategic would be a decision like the management is thinking about having an extra CAT scan.
2. Demand, capacity & variability
Low variability = more predictable and more plannable
Data analysis and forecasting→ sometimes we can adapt capacity to expectations
Predictable and unpredictable variation
Preferable = low variation, but if we have variation, predictable variation is the best option
1. Introduction to the course & balancing Capacity & Demand
Service management
Characteristics of services
• Intangible
• Non-transferrable ownership
• Customer participation
• Simultaneous creation and use
• Heterogeneity
• Perishable – Gone away after the service is done - You cannot store it
All these characteristics have influence on how we use and plan services
Explicit services: clearly visible (after surgery the patients feels well)
Implicit services: not visible (nice environment in the waiting room / being friendly / feeling safe)
Information: about content or organization of the service (good & understandable way?)
Facilitating goods: second place (with products it’s first place), medical equipment etc
Supporting facility: building, parking place
→ Together they make the service experience – combination
Operations management: the control of activities involved in producing goods and providing services, and the
study of the best ways to do this – Cambridge dictionary
Health service operations management: analysis, design, planning and control of all the steps necessary to
provide services for patients in such a way that their needs are met, that service standards are met, and
resources are used efficiently
,HSOM: Process – Unit – Network
• Unit
A department in a health organization that performs operations of the same operation type
• Process/chain
Series of operations that need to be performed to produce a particular service
• Network
Combination of units and chains performing operations for services for several groups of clients
Frequently used (also in group assignment):
Balancing capacity & demand
1. Levels of planning
, Levels of planning:
1. Strategic level: about investments, strive to have enough capacity available for the lower levels.
Planning horizon = 2 years or further
2. Tactical level: divide this available capacity to different specialities / patient groups. Planning about
what we expect to have in the demand and division of available capacity. Historical data and prognosis.
3. Operational level: scheduling of patients. Can be waiting list → plan for next week / patient planning
system.
Example levels of planning:
Exam question: Reservation of capacity at the end of each morning for the CAT scan for semi-urgent patients is
an example of? →Tactical scheduling, because we do not have a specific patient (operational) but a patient
group. Strategic would be a decision like the management is thinking about having an extra CAT scan.
2. Demand, capacity & variability
Low variability = more predictable and more plannable
Data analysis and forecasting→ sometimes we can adapt capacity to expectations
Predictable and unpredictable variation
Preferable = low variation, but if we have variation, predictable variation is the best option
