Management in Healthcare Organizations - Term Paper Example

Modern evidence through research shows that using lean clinic design has the potential of improving the general productivity of a building. Using the Clearview Cancer Center in Huntsville, Alabama as an example, there is enough evidence to suggest that the design has led to improvement in patient flow as well as a reduction in the amount of time that it took patients to journey from one point within the clinic to the other to receive care (McKee, Figueras and Chenet, 1998). In effect, the Clearview Cancer Center in Huntsville is a clear evidence of how lean clinic design has increased patient throughput and ensured longevity for patients.

It is against this background that the current proposal is being presented for the board’s consideration of implementing clean clinic design as has been recommended by the architect of The Fallon Clinic in Massachusetts. Improvement in Patient Flow When patients visit the clinic, they are expected to move from one point of service to the other. This is because at The Fallon Clinic in Massachusetts, there is currently not a centralized patient serving process that permits patients to receive integrated service at only one point of call.

Patient flow therefore involves movement for services such as admission, confirmation of insurance card, checking in to the consulting room, taking prescription to the pharmacy, visiting the laboratory among others. In an emergency situation such length of flow, if not minimized can be highly threatening to the health of patients (Healy and McKee, 1997). Meanwhile with a lean clinic design, the benefit will be towards the reduction of time spent to and from one point of service to the other. There are two major ways by which the lean clinic design is assured to bring about the improvement in patient flow.

In the first place, the design will ensure that service centers are brought close to each other and that there are connected services being taken from the same premises or room. The second form will be to ensure that there is visibility with service points, where patients will not have to use meandering routes to find their ways to service points. Access to care and efficiency Clearly, as easily as patients are able to reach service providers in a real cut down in time frame, the next benefit that will be expected will be improved access to care.

Generally, access to care involves the reception of health care when it is most needed (Kaser, 2007). This means that when a patient approaches the clinic and is severe need of a particular health care service, any condition that denies the care at the very urgent time that the service is needed hinders access to care. A typical example of access to care can be cited with a pregnant woman who comes to the clinic and is in labor. At that time, access to care should ensure that she receives the services of midwives who will ensure that there is an immediate safe delivery for her.

If this pregnant woman does not receive this form of care but its left alone to go through labor by herself, any form of care that will come will not constitute access to care at the time she entered the clinic. Meanwhile with a lean clinic design in place, the type of free flow of patients and accessibility that employees are going to get, there is enough evidence that care will reach patients when it is most n