A BPMN-VSM based process analysis to improve the efficiency of multidisciplinary outpatient clinics

Abstract

Multidisciplinary outpatient clinics are healthcare structures that group together a set of units dealing with patients who require a series of cares and medical examinations. They are generally characterised by very complex processes due to a high number of activities and resources and a large exchange of different types of flows between multiple stakeholders. For these organisations, the greatest challenge is providing timely cares expressed by close appointments as well as reduced lead time and homecomings. To reach this aim, we propose a systematic BPMN-VSM based process analysis approach in order to enhance efficiency. It operates in four steps: (i) modelling the Patient Care Delivery Process, (ii) mapping the Critical Patient Pathway (iii) outlining the bottlenecks and the possible causes of increased lead-times and homecomings, and (iv) identifying avenues for improvement. To assess the applicability of our approach, we conducted an action research in a Tunisian multidisciplinary outpatient clinic. The results show complementarities between the BPMN and VSM tools. Findings also reveal that the proposed approach was able to propose avenues for future improvement to remedy the identified inefficiencies.

Keywords:

• Multidisciplinary outpatient clinic
• process analysis
• business process model and notation
• value stream management
• efficiency improvement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Najla Omrane Aissaoui

Najla Omrane Aissaoui received her Industrial Engineering degree, her MS and Ph.D. from the National Engineering School of Tunis (ENIT). She is currently an assistant professor of industrial engineering at the National Engineering School of Carthage and a member of OASIS Lab at the National Engineering School of Tunis, Tunisia. Her area of expertise and interest are production planning and control, supply chain optimisation, lean healthcare, health systemsand performance measurement systems.

Hana Ben Mbarek

Hana Ben Mbarek is an Industrial Engineer, a research associate and PhD candidate at the OASIS Lab at the National Engineering School of Tunis, Tunisia. Her research interests revolve around Industrial Engineering, Lean Healthcare and Simulation.

Safa Bhar Layeb

Safa Bhar Layeb is an associate professor of industrial engineering and a member of the OASIS Lab at the National Engineering School of Tunis, Tunisia. She is the founding chair of the African Working Group in Health Systems, affiliated with the African Federation of Operational Research Societies (AFROS). She is particularly interested in industrial engineering approaches and their applications in Healthcare organisations.

Atidel B. Hadj-Alouane

Atidel B. Hadj-Alouane joined the University of Sharjah in Fall 2021 as Professor of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management. She has over 25 years of academic experience. At the National Engineering School of Tunis, she founded and directed for 15 years, the Optimisation of Service and Industrial Systems laboratory (OASIS) and cofounded several programs such as the PhD and Masters programs in Industrial Engineering and the Professional Masters’ program in Business Development and Modernisation. Her research interests include integrated logistics systems and green logistics, Risk management in supply chains, Smart scheduling, and OR application to Telecommunications, Cloud systems and infrastructure, and Health systems.