Focused operations to improve the patient flow in full-service healthcare organisations

Full-service healthcare providers struggle to enhance productivity due to their complexity. To address this, we studied how greater operational focus could improve their productivity. After conducting a systematic literature review, we created a framework aimed at fostering focused healthcare organizations. We applied this framework in a case study of a full-service provider, analyzing care processes by patient volume and variety. Our findings reveal that blending simple and complex care processes lowers flow efficiency while segmenting them into either high-volume, low-variety (focused) and low-volume, high-variety (general) significantly improves productivity. Our framework serves as a tool for healthcare managers to define strategic directions, evaluate operational focus, and implement streamlined operations. It aids in resource allocation by differentiating between processes needing flexible staffing and those that can be optimized, decreasing overtime costs and preventing staff burnout. We recommend that full-service providers embrace a dual-focus model to better manage complexity and enhance operational efficiency.