Healthcare Planning

The healthcare sector is considered one of the largest consumers of public finance. This sector is rated among the most important economic sectors whose expenditure budget keeps increasing rapidly. The expenditure associated with the health sector needs to be managed. The current information system (IS) framework used in the healthcare sector is both insufficient and underdeveloped (Ardagna et al, 2009). The sector suffers from challenges that include increased patient complexity, reduced resources, and need for high quality healthcare services. These challenges exert pressure to healthcare providers prompting them to find ways of increasing productivity and cutting down on costs. The paper that follows presents a discussion on the challenges of business process management (BPM) in the healthcare sector.

Summary of the Article

The article authored by Markus Helfert highlights the challenges of BPM in the healthcare sector. The article is a case study of sorts and it uses the experience in the Irish healthcare sector as the center of focus. Helfert (2009) argues on the importance of the healthcare sector to a country’s economy. He further asserts that the many challenges experienced in the healthcare sector coupled with the high expectations from the sector’s stakeholders necessitate improvement. The author points out that there have been some recent efforts aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the healthcare sector.

Some countries are said to have attempted to increased productivity and cut down on cost by adopting process management systems or enterprise resource planning systems. Despite the adoption of these management systems, important concepts such as the integrated electronic health record systems are far from becoming a reality.

The author uses an example of a failed IS in Ireland. The implementation of the Personnel Payroll Attendance and Recruitment System (PPARS), which aimed at standardizing payroll system and human resource (HR) management across Ireland, sought to reduce HR related expenditures. This component of expenditure alone constituted over 70% of the overall healthcare expenditure. Successful implementation aimed at addressing the deficits inherent in the Hr management function that entailed time management, recruitment, work force planning, management information, staff retention, and benchmarking (Helfert, 2009). However, the high expectation levelled against the project was thwarted when it became abundantly clear that the project had serious operational problems. These problems resulted to the freezing of the project’s implementation.

The Planning Function of Management

Planning is considered the cardinal function of management. This function is executed at the highest level of an organization. The senior management, which is tasked with the duty of policy formulation and decision-making, must coin their policies and decisions around plans. Without planning, every business activity would become disorganized, costly, and meaningless. The increased size of organization has necessitated the adoption of the planning process.

Several merits emanate from a well thought out plan; these include the facilitation of the decision-making process, reduction of the risks associated with uncertainty, reduction of wasteful and overlapping activities, establishment of standards of control, and provision of direction to the organization (Ardagna et al, 2009). Conversely, planning suffers from limitations that include its inability to function in a dynamic environment, time and money consumption by the process, reduction of creativity and flexibility, and its inability to guarantee success.

The actual planning process comprises several steps. Generally, the steps may entail setting the aims of the project, developing the internal and external premises for the planning process, identification of alternative courses of action, selection of the best alternative, implementation of the plan, and follow up actions. These steps must be followed in a systematic manner to achieve a successful planning process.

The Planning Aspect of Ireland’s Personnel Attendance and Recruitment System (PPARS)

The aim for the project was set. The PPARS aimed at increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the healthcare IS while at the same time cutting down on costs. Both the internal and external premises were developed. The internal premises for the PPARS included the provision of funding whereas external premises entailed Government policies that supported the proposed PPARS. The planners of this system skipped the fourth step, which required them to have a listing of alternative courses (Helfert, 2009). This listing is important, as it would have helped the management to choose the best alternative and reduce the chances of failure. The lack of alternative courses meant that the PPARS was the only project under consideration and as thus, it was approved, though half-baked, for implementation. It is during the implementation phase that it trouble kicked in. The management discovered that the project had serious operational problems and therefore the project was frozen.

The Success Factors and Failures of the PPARS

A look at the PPARS reveals a number of things that were done correctly. Despite the overall failure of the PPARS, all the initial steps of the planning process were followed. Additionally, a pilot system was run before applying the system in the entire healthcare organization (Helfert, 2009). The award of the project to an experienced external consultancy firm was also a right move. The splitting of the implementation process into two phases also prevented massive losses that would have resulted from a sector wide adoption of the system. The planning process played an instrumental role in the implementation phase. It was through planning that the implementation segment was broken down into two phases preventing the occurrence of massive losses. The process failed because the planners failed to list alternative courses. As a result, the project, which had already cost a lot, was frozen indefinitely.

References

Ardagna, D., BPM (Conference), Mecella, M., & Yang, J. (2009). Business process management workshops: BPM 2008 international workshops, Milano, Italy, September 1-4, 2008 : revised papers. Berlin: Springer.

Helfert, M (2009) “Challenges of business processes management in healthcare: Experience in the Irish healthcare sector”, Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 15 Iss: 6, pp.937 – 952