OPDSS: A Strategic Management Information System for Hospital Outpatient Departments
Christopher Bain, Gitesh K. Raikundalia, Kanchana Ratnayake · 2008
Topic area and paper objectives: This paper investigates the potential use of an outpatient department (OPD) scheduling software application (OPDSS) for scheduling involved in outpatient departments. This study aimed to evaluate the potential role of a locally developed OPDSS in assisting health care managers in scheduling. Background and concise literature review: One of the key ongoing challenges in healthcare management is the difficulty in balancing access and demand in both the short-term operational sense and in the medium- and long-term strategic sense. Increasingly this challenge is recognised as an important issue in relation to outpatient care. If we are to keep the person at the centre of our thinking in delivering services, and IT solutions to support those services, then we must rise to meet such challenges. This is the first time that such an application has been trialled in the Australian context, where the interface is linked to an underlying simulation application. Methods: This research involved a usability study with relevant participants who could provide useful feedback with regard to the issue of OPD scheduling. Twelve participants, including those specifically working in the OPD or those working currently on hospital redesign associated with the OPD, underwent a three-stage study involving the following steps: (1) a pre-usage session, where participants filled in a pre-usage survey, underwent an education session about OPDSS and had a session of using OPDSS; (2) software usage sessions, where participants actually used OPDSS over three weeks for trialling the scheduling process; and (3) post-session usage survey, where participants were questioned regarding their use of OPDSS. Results and discussion of implications: Basic statistical results about and comments on the application have been gained from applying the methods above. Results relate to the usefulness of OPDSS or the importance of the problems OPDSS addresses. In addition to presenting some views that users gave about OPDSS, this paper discusses issues of user roles associated with such an application.