A healthcare organization's service operations encompass all of the processes and systems through which the organization provides care and service to its customers, whether through human contact, automated systems, or virtually. Ensuring that service operations are optimized for effectiveness and efficiency as well as positive customer experiences is the goal of service operations management. Since the level of demand in these systems is often variable, analysis and improvement can be challenging.
In this course, you will review the probability and statistics concepts necessary to analyze a service process where the level of demand is variable and explore how that variability affects the efficiency of systems. You will practice using tools of queue analysis, including the Lq approximation and Little's Law, to analyze service operations, and you will investigate ways to reduce variability in service processes. Finally, you will analyze a specific service process and recommend improvements to reduce processing and wait times.
- Mid-career healthcare professionals
- Physicians transitioning into a managerial role
- Nurses and nurse practitioners taking on management responsibilities
- Healthcare policy professionals looking to transition into operations management
- Business management professionals/MBA students who wish to specialize in healthcare operations
- Customer-facing managers in government agencies
- Anyone whose staff or unit is responsible for providing a consistent and high level of service
