Healthcare Operations Management

I teach operations management to undergraduates who wish to specialize in healthcare. While the primary topics I cover are similar to those in my core operations management, we pay special attention to the peculiarities of the healthcare industry:

• The special challenges of operations management in the healthcare context
• Process analysis: making processes more efficient and responsive
• Managing risk in processes with capacity and inventory
• Process improvement: the systematic improvement of patient safety

The syllabus for the course can be found here.

Some related operations management practice problems can be found here on my operations management webpage.

Good Books

• M.A. Anderson, E.G. Anderson Jr., and G.G. Parker, Operations Management for Dummies.
• Thomas Pyzdek and Paul Keller, The Six Sigma Handbook.
• Michael George, John Maxey, et al., The Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolbook.
• Michael Kenney and Don Berwick, Transforming Health Care: Virginia Mason Medical Center's Pursuit of the Perfect Patient Experience.
• Paul Plsek, Accelerating Health Care Transformation with Lean and Innovation: The Virginia Mason Experience.
• Michael Porter and Elizabeth Teisberg, Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-based Competition on Results.