The researchers, Koos Krabbendam (Operations, Organization & Human Resources) and Erwin Hans (Operational Methods for Production and Logistics), both of the School of Management and Governance, concluded that the long waiting list was caused primarily by `variability in steps of the process,' as Hans formulates. `Because of the variability, the hospital had to plan more time than necessary for a mere scan. It is possible to scan in twelve minutes, but sometimes it takes twenty minutes, because people are late or there are other things that take longer than planned. So they plan twenty minutes for every patient.'
By introducing two simple organizational steps in a simulation model, it appeared that the waiting list could be shortened by sixteen days. The researchers asked people to come ten minutes early to compensate for tardiness. The researchers also discovered that the administration of contrast fluid, which is sometimes needed for a good scan, greatly influenced the variability. Hans: `You don't need the scanner for that, but it was done in the scanner room. By separating that preliminary treatment and doing it in a different room, there was more time saved for the CT scanner.' These two steps lead to a significant shortening of the waiting list.
Both scientists think that the AMC can shorten the waiting list even further. Krabbendam stresses: `That waiting period can be under 24 hours. Take maintenance, for instance. That was done during the day. That's weird, right? Even road maintenance is done during the night. And there are even more possibilities.'
Trans. Henriëtte van Dorp
