OR in healthcare: A European perspective

摘要

Due to advanced technologies and increase in the longevity induced healthcare needs of old age population the cost of healthcare has increased substantially. There is also change in attitude within the industry to make it more service oriented and that patients also started looking for flawless service. The service concept has necessitated striking a balance between service for patients and efficiency for providers. Usage of OR is on increase as a result of the above developments. Healthcare OR is characteristically different from OR in industries and other service providers. The main reason for this is the structure of the hospital organization. The clinical specialists who manage their individual departments have autonomy in decision making. They may be mostly in contract with the hospitals and as such it may be difficult to insert pressure on them demanding improvement. Similarly, the nursing staff has their own method of dealing with healthcare situations. Hence the totality cannot easily be influenced by the administration the way they like to manage. Healthcare systems vary between hospitals and between countries. This paper focuses on European healthcare systems, where coverage of most healthcare costs for all inhabitants is available and the costs of healthcare expenditure is controlled at a national level. The healthcare systems in Canada and Australia are also have similar set ups. (89 refs.)