HA 545 Two Replies

Overview

Jean Elie

Sep 1 5:13pm

The position of Healthcare Operations Manager [HOM] is critical to ensure effective coordination and delivery of services aligning with a corporation’s goal. The organizations’ finances, management, operations, quality, and patient satisfaction, therefore all operational decisions supporting and aligning with the daily activities of an organization are within the HOM’s responsibilities (Tucker, 2026). Amongst which, reducing costs while providing higher quality services, although contradictory, are interlinked and critical to continued operations.

• Reduce costs
  1. Optimization
     1. Role → improving overall availability, usage, and care delivery while decreasing costs.
     2. Examples:
        • Outsourcing select services:
          • According to the American Hospitals Association [AHA] (2026), increased costs from higher manufacturing and transportation fees due to limited variability, have caused diagnostics equipment procurement fee to increase by 8% in in 2025 from 2023, nearing $1.4 billion (about $4.3 per person in the US) dollars. By outsourcing select services, the organization does not have to concern themselves with hiring specialized staff for utilization, or equipment maintenance, or the cost associated with replacing equipment. The only financial transaction will be disbursing payment with use.
        • Streamlining payment disbursement and insurance billing
          • According to AHA (2026), in 2025 Hospitals had an additional financial expenditure nearing $43million advocating for payment for previously delivered care with some cases spending over $18 million just to overturn denied claims. This has led to the creation of specialized staff for this purpose, increasing hired staff by 6.5% and thereby employment payment. By streamlining payment disbursement and MOAs with insurances regarding billing and payment remuneration, hospitals can use those extra funds to optimize the technology used or the staff education and certifications, thereby promoting better care delivery to patients.

1. Resource Tracking systems
   1. Role → Decrease monetary loss due to unavailability, expiration, misplacement or theft, and time spent looking/ identifying equipment.
   2. Examples:
      • Tracking Resources
        • Being familiar with supply chains and market prices enhances the availability and procurement of necessary daily operating supplies. AHA (2026) saw an increase in hospital supplies use in 2025 by 18% across the US $300 billion (about $920 per person in the US) from previous years. Also, expired supplies accounted for 7.4% of equipment loss in some hospitals in 2023 (Beringer, 2024). Familiarity with global and local sourcing, with availability and quality expenditure allows the HMO cost advantage balancing when selecting who to get provision from and also provides them with contingency plans in the case of resource quota disruptions due to natural and unforeseen disasters, illness, or political disruptions all key players of resources shortages.
      • Tracking Medical equipment
        • Medical equipment, especially electronic ones are expensive, and life supporting technologies such as ventilators and CPAP machine are valued at $50,000/unit; Ultraviolet [UV] disinfection robots' costs nearly $125,000/unit; and other cardio-pulmonary support equipment can cost up to $325,000 (AHA, 2026). Tracking equipment also allows them to be easily found and accessible when needed, as some portable machines are left behind after use instead of returning to a station, due to several reasons (Overmann, 2021; Yoo, 2018). By tracking them using Bluetooth technology or mobile gps location, the organization ensures that they are kept on location thereby limiting theft opportunities.
      • Provide higher quality services
        1. Evidence-based health care -Six Sigma
           1. Role → DMAIC or DMADV structured methodology employing techniques and tools in process improvement to deliver a product up to 99.99996% defect free (sixsigmaonline, 2026).
           2. Example:
              • Taking advantage of available technologies such as tracking, inventory, gps monitoring etc.… to reduce inefficient resource usage and allocation thereby optimizing and ensuring overall availability of rendered services throughout an organization and decreasing material cost usage expenditures (Ninerola, 2020; Rathi, 2021).
              • Streamlining and refining education curriculum through evidence-based data and statistical analysis by eliminating redundancies, thereby supplying performance quality academic standards, and providing optimized insights to meet diverse needs and reduce bottlenecks while improving the learning experience, surpassing academic standards and enhancing overall institutional standing and effectiveness (sixsigmaonline, 2026).

References:

American Hospital Association. (2026, Mar.). The Cost of Caring- Challenges Facing America’s Hospitals as They Care for Patients in 2026. https://www.aha.org/costsofcaringLinks to an external site..

Beringer, A. (2024, Jul. 17). Practical implementation and optimization of a clinical supply chain technology: A case report of an improvement project using a data-driven strategy [Case Report]. Perioperative Care and Operating Room Management,35(100410). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcorm.2024.100410Links to an external site.. Creative Commons BY License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Links to an external site..

Macias, R. (2026, Aug. 31). Financial Impact and Quality Improvement, in Financial Management and Legal Environment- week 1 Presentations & Resources. OC_HA520_202608FAIOL_OL-C: Financial Management for Healthcare Professionals. Master of Healthcare Administration- West Coast University (online program).

Overmann, K. M., Wu, D. T. Y., Xu, C. T., Bindhu, S. S., & Barrick, L. (2021, Mar. 3). Real-time locating systems to improve healthcare delivery: A systematic review. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA, 28(6), 1308–1317. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocab026Links to an external site..

Rathi, R., Vakharia, A., & Shadab, M. (2021, Jun. 7). Lean six sigma in the healthcare sector: A systematic literature review. Mater Today Proc.,50:773-781. doi: 10.1016/j.matpr.2021.05.534. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8820448/Links to an external site..

Sixsigmaonline. (2026). About Six Sigma. Educate 360. https://www.sixsigmaonline.org/six-sigma/Links to an external site..

Tucker, B. (2026, Sept. 1). Establishing Standards of Care, in Introduction to Healthcare Operations- Week 1 Presentation & Resources. OC_HA545_202608FAIOL_OL-B : Operations & Management in Healthcare Organizations. Master of Healthcare Administration - West Coast University (online program).

Yoo, S., Kim, S., Kim, E. Jung, E., Lee, K., & Hwang, H. (2018, Sept. 18). Real-time location system-based asset tracking in the healthcare field: lessons learned from a feasibility study. BMC Medical Informatics & Decision Making, 18(80) . https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-018-0656-0Links to an external site..

Sandy Duncanson

Aug 31 5:06pm| Last reply Aug 31 5:17pm

Healthcare operations managers play an important role in making sure care is delivered efficiently, consistently, and safely. The two roles from the table that I feel are especially important in healthcare are 1) reducing variability and improving logistical flow and 2) providing higher-quality services. These roles are closely connected because inconsistent processes can create delays, waste resources, ad increase the risk.

1. Reducing variability means making processes more consistent so that things are not being done differently depending on the person or department. Improving logistical flow mean making sure patients, supplies, staff and information are moving where they need to go without unnecessary delays.
2. Intergraded services delivery means coordinating care and communication across different departments or health care services instead of allowing each area to operate separately.

One example is the surgical process. Before a patient reaches the operating, the surgeons' office, preoperative staff, anesthesia team, operating room, and recovery area all need accurate and timely information. If lab results, clearance, or consents are missing, the surgery may be delayed or cancelled. An integrated process allow these issues to be identified earlier, which improves patient flow and reduces wasted operating room time.

Another example is discharge planning. A patient may need medications, follow-up appointments, home health, or additional education before going home. If all of these things are handled separately, important information can easily be missed. When nursing, case management, pharmacy, the physician, and other departments work together, the discharge is more organized and the patient is better prepared to go home. This can reduce confusion, delays, and possibly prevent an unnecessary readmission.

Analytics means using data to figure out what is actually happening instead of making assumptions. One example would be looking at first-case on-time starts, turnover times, delays, and cancellations in the operating room. If the data show that most first cases are starting late because patients are not ready in pre-op, then leadership knows where the problem is. The answer would not be to tell the OR team to work faster if that is not where the delay is happening. Analytics helps managers focus on the actual problem and make changes that can be measured.

Another example is staffing in an emergency department. If the data show that patient volume is consistently higher during certain hours, management can schedule more staff during those times. This is a better use of resources than staffing every hour the same way. It can help reduce patient wait times, keep staff from becoming overwhelmed, and reduce unnecessary overtime. This shows how analytics can improve both patient flow and efficiency.

Supply chain management is making sure the supplies and equipment needed for patient care are available when they are needed without creating unnecessary waste or cost. One example is standardizing supplies. In an operating room, different surgeons may request different brands of products that perform the same function. If some of those items can safely be standardized with physician input, the hospital can reduce the amount of inventory it has to keep on hand and decrease expired products. This can save money while still making sure the patient gets the supplies needed for safe care.

Another example is using an electronic or barcode inventory system. If a commonly used surgical supply is getting low, the system can alert staff that it needs to be reordered. Without a reliable inventory process, staff may not realize an item is missing until it is needed for a procedure. That can lead to delays and wasted time while someone tries to locate the product. Good supply chain management supports patient care because staff have what they need when they need it.

The second role I chose is providing higher-quality services. In healthcare, quality is not only about whether the patient had a good experience. It also includes patient safety, clinical outcomes, reliability, and making sure the care being provided follows best practices. The evolving trend listed with this role is evidence-based health care Six Sigma.

Evidence-based health care means using current research and proven practices when providing patient care. Six Sigma is a quality-improvement method that looks for errors and variation in a process and then works to reduce them.

One example is reducing surgical-site infections. Hospitals use evidence-based practices such as proper antibiotic timing, correct skin preparation, and maintaining sterile technique. If infection rates start to increase, leadership can review the process and look for where the breakdown is happening. It could be a problem with timing, documentation, or inconsistent practice. Using a Six Sigma approach allows the organization to identify the problem, make a change, and then continue measuring the results to see if the change actually worked. Reducing infections improves patient safety, but it can also reduce longer hospital stays, extra treatments, and added costs.

Another example is medication errors. If a hospital notices an increase in medication-related incidents, leadership can review the data to see where the errors are happening and why. Changes could include barcode medication administration, better handoff processes, or additional safety checks for high-risk medications. After making the change, the organization would continue tracking errors to see if the new process made a difference. This is important because putting a new process in place does not automatically mean it is working. The results still need to be measured.

In conclusion, both of these roles show how important operations managers are in healthcare. Reducing variability and improving logistical flow can help prevent delays, improve communication, and make better use of staff and resources. Providing higher-quality services focuses on making care safer and more consistent. Integrated services delivery, analytics, supply chain management, and evidence-based health care all help operations managers identify problems and improve the way care is delivered. In the end, these trends support the same overall goals: better patient care, improved safety, less waste, and a more efficient healthcare system.