Radiology
The main role of the radiology department in Al Baraha Hospital is to provide imaging services to patients. This department consists of several wards, namely Portable Radiography, General Radiology, and Fluoroscopy. This work of this department is governed by the laws adopted by the Ministry of Health. In particular, one should speak about Healthcare Facilities Regulation (UAE Ministry of Health, 2013). This document includes requirements regarding the size of tomography rooms or the protection against stray radio frequencies (UAE Ministry of Health, 2013, p. 31). The budget of this department constitutes $1405500. This division of Al Baraha Hospital includes 23 employees. This department is located on the first floor of the hospital. The following chart illustrates the position of this department within the hospital.
The department measures quality from the perspective of patients, who need medical assistance, and physicians. It is defined as the ability of this department to provide timely and appropriate services to patients. They focus on such indicators as the satisfaction of patients. This is why they regularly carry out patient surveys, which are reviewed by the senior administration of the hospital. These results are used to evaluate the performance of separate individuals.
The workers of this department take part in the innovation process. It is described mostly as the modification of methods and processes involved in the imaging services. The major improvements are related to the workflow, accuracy of the information, and safety of patients. For example, they suggest new ways of minimizing risks to the health of a patient. Furthermore, they recommend methods that can improve the workflow in this department. These recommendations are encouraged by the management. Yet, there are no rules requiring additional compensation for such suggestions. This is one of the limitations that should not be overlooked.
Performance indicators adopted in this department are linked to the outcomes of patients. Researchers argue that one should focus on such an aspect as the avoidance of risk (Abujudeh 2012, p. 151). In turn, this department pays attention to the number of falls or the rate of compliance with hand hygiene rules. Second, they pay attention to the number of lost scans. They compare these results with the data offered by radiology departments of other hospitals. These findings are monitored by the management. In some cases, people, who bring improvement in performance, can be rewarded by the management.
In this case, productivity is measured with the help of several indicators. For example, one can speak about the number of times employees require in order to provide different types of imaging services. Secondly, they pay attention to the cost-efficiency of the department. They benchmark their results with the data of other radiology departments. These data are of great interest to the management. Moreover, people. who improve the productivity of this department, can be provided with additional compensation.
In my opinion, this department should conduct surveys among nurses and physicians since these people can provide valuable suggestions regarding the workflow in the radiology department. Furthermore, they need to implement rules that can guarantee rewards to people who made valuable innovations. Finally, they should launch training programs for workers, especially at the time when they acquire new imaging technologies. In this way, one can significantly improve their productivity. These are the main suggestions that can be offered.
Physiotherapy department
The physiotherapy department has a wide variety of responsibilities. They have to do such tasks as manual therapy, health education, therapeutic exercises, post-natal care, psychological support, and pre-operative care. This department is located on the second floor of the building; nevertheless, employees can work in different parts of Al Baraha Hospital. This department has to comply with the regulations adopted by the UAE Ministry of Health. The staff of this department includes 54 healthcare workers. Its annual budget equals $ 5, 000 444. The following chart illustrates the interactions of this department with other divisions of Al Baraha Hospital.
While, addressing quality issues, the employees of this department focus on the experiences of patients and the outcomes of their treatment. They define quality as the degree to which the work of employees can meet the needs of people who seek medical assistance. Among the most indicators, one can single out the timeliness of services, responsiveness of medical workers, the quality of educational services, and many other criteria. They carry out quality surveys two times per year. These are some of the approaches that medical workers recommend (Pountney, 2007). These results are reviewed by the hospital administration. Yet, they are not always taken into account when senior management evaluates the performance of separate individuals. These are the main details that can be distinguished.
Innovation is also encouraged in this department. In this case, one should speak about the improvement of methods that are needed for the effective treatment of patients. For example, one can mention a new set of exercises that can help a patient to recover after certain injuries. Such innovations are recognized by hospital administration.
The workers of this department assess their performance with the help of different indicators that are related to the outcomes of patients. For instance, they focus on the recovery rates of patients. To some degree, these quantitative data can throw some light on the work of the physiology department (Hughes 2007, p. 82). They also compare these results with the findings of other hospitals located in the UAE. Moreover, they adopt the models adopted in similar departments. Additionally, they attach importance to teamwork, technical skills of a medical worker, and efficiency of administration. Hospital administrators regularly review these results while evaluating the work of the entire department and separate employees.
The productivity of the physiotherapy department is very difficult to measure because it is difficult to identify specific outputs. Nevertheless, there are several criteria that can throw light on the efficiency of a hospital administration. For instance, one can speak about output rates, absenteeism rates within the organization, turnover within the division and other criteria (Madhuri 2007, p. 32). A similar approach is adopted by the management of this department. Moreover, they focus on the results of other physiotherapy departments. These data are taken into account by hospital administrators when they need to evaluate the work of separate medical workers.
There are several recommendations that should be considered by the management. For example, they have more opportunities for learning about the best practices adopted in other physiotherapy departments. Secondly, at present, this department is understaffed, and it is necessary to hire new employees. Finally, they need to launch an orientation program for new workers in order to decrease turnover rates. These are the main recommendations that should be considered.
Laboratories department
Overall, the Laboratories department supports such activities of medical workers as the diagnosis of a patient’s state, the selection of treatment options, and identification of possible health risks. This department is located on the third floor of Al Baraha Hospital. The budget of this department is $ 1220023. Its staff includes 13 employees. It follows the regulations enacted by the Ministry of Health. Overall, the efficient work of this department is critical for protecting the safety of patients. The following diagram can throw light on the connections of this department with the divisions of Al Baraha Hospital.
The workers of this department do not interact directly with patients. Therefore, the quality of their work cannot be evaluated from the perspective of people who need medical assistance. They emphasize mostly the accuracy of the results that they provide. Moreover, they do not have explicit quality standards. Nevertheless, this limitation can be explained by the peculiarities of their work.
In this department, innovation is described as the changes, which are needed to ensure the accuracy of laboratory tests, the speed of services. The innovations suggested by the employees are mostly aimed at improving the storage and retrieval of information. These recommendations can facilitate the work of healthcare professionals (Jespersen 2000). These innovations are encouraged by the management. Moreover, people, who made valuable recommendations, can be rewarded by hospital administrators. This approach is critical for supporting the initiatives of separate employees.
This department has its own definition of performance is related to the outcomes of patients. In particular, they attach importance to the number of false results yielded during laboratory tests. Their intention is to reduce this number to the minimum. These data are regularly reviewed by hospital administrators when they assess the work of separate workers. They also look at the best practices used in other laboratories departments. This approach is useful for improving the work of different medical laboratories throughout the UAE (Lieseke, 2012). This is one of the strategies that they adopt.
The employees of this department do not have a clear definition of productivity because quantitative indicators do not completely reflect the work of its employees. Nevertheless, they do consider such indicators cost-effectiveness and the amount of time it takes to complete a certain test (Perednia 2007). Moreover, they attach importance to absenteeism (Perednia 2007). These data are monitored by hospital administrators. They are taken into account when it is necessary to assess the performance of separate employees. They look at the strategies used by other hospitals. In this way, they try to improve time management and the use of financial resources within this department. There are some of the main goals that they try to achieve.
It is possible to single out several suggestions that the laboratories department can adopt. They need to decrease the turnover in this organization. To some degree, this goal can be achieved by achieving the number of employees in this department. At present, many of the workers complain of being overworked. Additionally, it is necessary to provide more assistance to new hires who cannot often cope with workplace pressure. These are the main aspects that can be identified.
References
Abujudeh, H 2012, Quality and Safety in Radiology, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Hughes, M 2007, The Essentials of Performance Analysis: An Introduction, Routledge, New York.
Jespersen, J 2000, Laboratory Techniques in Thrombosis – A Manual, Springer, New York.
Lieseke, C 2012, Essentials Of Medical Laboratory Practice, F.A. Davis, New York.
Madhuri, G 2007, Textbook of Physiotherapy for Obstetric and Gynecological Conditions, Jaypee Brothers Publishers, London.
Perednia, D 2011, Overhauling America’s Healthcare Machine: Stop the Bleeding and, Save Trillions, FT Press, Boston.
Pountney, T 2007, Physiotherapy for Children, Elsevier Health Sciences, New York.
UAE Ministry of Health, 2013, Healthcare Facilities Regulation, Web.