Abstract
Shortening waiting times is the most obvious and effective method of increasing service quality. As the workforce is limited, it is necessary to reform current systems of medical care and improve the efficiency of medical care. After process reengineering was proposed in 1990s, however, this concept has not yet been commonly applied to medical centers. The subject of this study was an outpatient pharmacy in a medical center. This study applied the methods of a time study to measure field observations and as an analytic tool in process reengineering. The results show that the pharmacists were hindered in filling prescriptions for the following reasons: the preparation of certain prescription units, the menial sorting of medicines and also storage issues related to medicines. Improving the process will decrease time wasted by 10.41% and enhance service by 8.95%. The reengineering process resulted not only in a reduction in outpatients’ waiting time but also enhanced the quality and competitiveness of the Hospital’s medical treatment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Hammer, M., Reengineering work: Don’t automate obliterate. Harvard Bus. Review. 68:104–112, 1990.
Ho, S. K., and Chan, L., The implementation of business process reengineering in American and Canadian hospitals. Health Care Manage. Rev. 24:9–31, 1999.
Davenport, T. H., and Short, J. E., The new industrial engineering: Information technology and business redesign. Sloan Manage. Rev. 31:11–27, 1990.
Bragato, L., and Jacobs, K., Care pathways: The road to better health services? J. Health Organ. Manage. 17:164–180, 2003.
de Vries, G., Bertrand, J. W. M., and Vissers, J. M. H., Design requirements for health care production control systems. Prod. Plann. Control. 10:559–569, 1999.
van der Bij, J., and Vissers, J., Monitoring health-care processes: A framework for performance indicators. Int. J. Health Care Qual. Assurance. 12:214–221, 1999.
Vissers, J., Health care management modeling: A process perspective. Health Care Manage. Sci. 1:77–85, 1998.
Vissers, J., Bertrand, J., and de Vries, G., A framework for production control in health care organizations. Prod. Plann. Control. 12:591–604, 2001.
Leu, J. D., and Huang, Y. T., An application of business process method to the clinical efficiency of hospital. J. Med. Syst. 2009. doi:10.1007/s10916-009-9376-4
Mansur, J., and Chamerlik, S., New roles for pharmacy managers in patient-centered care. Am. J. Health Sys. Pharm. 52:54–58, 1995.
Mayer, T. A., Customer service and triage. Emerg. Med. 19:28–39, 1997.
Probert, D., Stevenson, B., Tang, N., and Scarborough, H., The introduction of patient process re-engineering in the Peterborough Hospitals NHS Trust. J. Manage. Med. 13:308–324, 1999.
Vera, A., and Kuntz, L., Process-based organization design and hospital efficiency. Health Care Manage. Rev. 32:55–65, 2007.
Kauffman, A., Increasing patient satisfaction by using the ScriptPro automated prescription dispensing system. J. Am. Pharmaceutical Assoc. 40:31–42, 2000.
Guha, S., Kettinger, W. J., and Teng, J. T. C., Business process reengineering: Building a comprehensive methodology. Inform. Syst. Manage. 10:13–22, 1993.
Mundel, M. E., Measures of productivity. Ind. Eng. 8:24–27, 1976.
Kujala, J., Lillrank, P., KronstrÖm, V., and Peltokorpi, A., Time-based management of patient processes. J. Health Organ. Manage. 20:512–524, 2006.
de Bruin, A. M., van Rossum, A. C., Visser, M. C., and Koole, G. M., Modeling the emergency cardiac in-patient flow: An application of queuing theory. Health Care Manage. Sci. 10:125–137, 2007.
Heckerling, P. S., Time study of an emergency room, identification of sources of patient delay. Illinois Med. J. 166:437–440, 1984.
Kolker, A., Process modeling of emergency department patient flow: Effect of patient length of stay on ED diversion. J. Med. Syst. 32:389–401, 2008.
Martin, S., and Smith, P., Explaining variations in inpatient length of stay in the National Health Service. J. Health Econ 15:279–304, 1996.
Naylor, C., and Sykora, K., Waiting for coronary artery bypass surgery. Lancet. 346:1605–1609, 1995.
Propper, C., Croxson, B., and Shearer, A., Waiting times for hospital admission: The impact of GP fundholding. J. Health Econ. 21:227–252, 2002.
Rotondi, A., Brindis, C., Kantees, K., DeRiso, B., Ilkin, H., Palmer, J., Gunnerson, H., and Watkins, W., Benchmarking the perioperative process. I. Patient routing systems: A method for continual improvement of patient flow and resource utilization. J. Clin. Anesthesia. 9:159–169, 1997.
Hammer, M., and Champy, J., Re-rngineering the corporation: A manifesto for business revolution. Nicholas Brearley, London, 1993.
Carr, D., Managing for effective business process redesign. Cost Manage. 2:16–21, 1993.
Gleckman, H. Z., and Schiller, J., Atomic for the business cycle. Bus. Week. 3365:15–17, 1994.
Sung, T. K., and Gibson, D. V., Critical success factors for business reengineering and corporate performance: The case of Korean corporation. Technol. Forecast. Soc. 58:297–311, 1998.
Lin, C. H., Reforming business II – Guiding principles guaranteeing success in business process reengineering. London, Oxford Publishing Company, 1996.
Talwar, R., Business re-engineering: A strategy-driven approach. Long Range Plann. 26:22–40, 1993.
Acknowledgments
The research has been supported by the Taichung General Veterans Hospital of Taiwan (TCVGH-966104C). Great thanks also go to all involved pharmacists for their participation and cooperation, which provided assistance and complete records and materials.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chou, YC., Chen, BY., Tang, YY. et al. Prescription-Filling Process Reengineering of an Outpatient Pharmacy. J Med Syst 36, 893–902 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-010-9553-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-010-9553-5