Operations research methods applied to workflow in a medical records department.
Transcribing medical documents accurately into pre-defined formats and within certain time frames is vital for administrative and medical purposes in any hospital. This paper describes quantitative models incorporating available data to represent transcription activities of a medical records department. We forecasted the workload of the department, determined the optimal worker schedule and designed a simulation model to represent the workflow of the transcription function of a medical record department. The findings provided insight into the workflow, staffing and performance of the department.
D003198:Computer Simulation; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008497:Medical Record Administrators / Q000600:supply & distribution; D008500:Medical Records Department, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009329:Nebraska; D009874:Operations Research; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D011382:Programming, Linear; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers / Q000458:organization & administration; D012985:Software Design; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D015443:Word Processing; D016526:Workload / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*