Focused Operations Management for Health Services Organizations offers managers and staff the practical knowledge and tools they need to accomplish much more within existing resources. This text identifies common bottlenecks and constraints and focuses on the critical issues and processes faced by managers in the health care field. The book provides tools to significantly improve organizational operations as well as enhance quality and customer satisfaction without increasing the use of physical, human, and financial resources.

PART ONE. THE DYNAMIC HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT ENVIRONMENT.

1. The Modern Health Care and Business Environment.
2. Principles of Management in a Dynamic Environment.
3. The Pareto Rule, Focusing Table, and Focusing Matrix.

PART TWO. NOVEL MANAGEMENT APPROACHES.

4. Management by Constraints. The Focusing Steps of the Theory of Constraints.
5. Management by Constraints in a Bottleneck Environment.
6. Management by Constraints When the Market Is the Constraint.
7. Focused Current Reality Tree.
8. Resolving Managerial Conflicts.
9. The Efficiencies Syndrome.
10. The Evils of Long Response Times.
11. Reducing Response Times.
12. The Complete Kit Concept.
13. Performance Measures and Managerial Control.
14. Effects of Fluctuations, Variability, and Uncertainty on the System.
15. The Evils of Traditional Cost Accounting.
16. Marketing, Costing, and Pricing Considerations in Decision-Making Processes.
17. Quality Management and Process Control.

PART THREE. STRATEGY AND VALUE CREATION.

18. Creating Value for Health Care Organizations.

PART FOUR. SUMMARY.

19. Case Study. The Emergency Department at Guard Mountain Hospital.
20. Our Managerial Credo.