Quinte Mri Case Study

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary        1

Issue Identification        2

Walk-in patients – Short term        2

Scheduling issues – Long term        2

Process issues – Long term issue        2

Backlog of patients – short term        3

Overtime hours – short term        3

Poor communication – short/long term issue        3

Environmental and Root Cause Analysis        4

Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis        4

Alternatives and Option        5

1.        Transfer of scheduling responsibilities to Quinte MRI        5

2. Implement a computerized scheduling system        6

3.  Improving the process flow for MRI Scans        6

Recommendations        7

Implementation        8

Monitor and Control        9

Conclusion        10

Exhibits        11

Exhibit 1: Time-frame of current Process        11

Exhibit 2: SWOT Analysis        11

Exhibit 3: Timeline of MRI schedule under new process        12

Exhibit 4: Balanced Scorecard        13

References        14

Executive Summary

Quinte MRI, founded by Dr. Syed Haider is a leader in medical technology serving hospitals who outsources their MRI services, partners with physicians and provides consulting services for individuals wanting to operate their own clinic for MRIs. Benton Cooper Medical Centre (BCMC), one of Haider’s clients has expressed concerns in the operations not meeting the promised two scans per hour quota due to low productivity, lack of staffing and an ineffective manual scheduling process.

With only one MR Technologist on site, it has resulted in a patient backlog of 14 days. Additionally, the bottleneck in the operation has resulted in the loss of patient referrals. Some of these include and imbalance in the scanning procedures, lack of technology use, idle time of the machine due to scheduling errors and inadequate training.

My decision is to hire an MR Assistant to perform some of the tasks currently being performed by the MR Technologist to create a better process flow and for Quinte MRI to undertake the scheduling function under their wing by investing in a digitized scheduling software. This will bring more harmony within the clinic and eventually lead to higher customer satisfaction among the patients.  Implementing this recommendation will take approximately three months as it will involve the hiring of a new MR Assistant, creating a new scheduling software, and training the staff on the new procedures and standards for operation. It will cost $50,000 for the implementation of the new scheduling system and the MR Assistant will earn $40,000 per annum however the new process will be able to take up to 12 patients per day (for a 30 minute scan) resulting in a revenue of $2,100,000 per year and reduce the initial back log to 9 days, slowly working its way to overcoming it on the whole. I have also provided some KPIs that should be used to assess performance and ensure overall success.

Issue Identification

Walk-in patients – Short term

Patients who are referred to the clinic are promised a lead time of 48 hours however some patients may come in as walk-ins and request an MRI scan for that day. By not having a policy that prevents walk-ins, this causes a bottleneck in the overall process. Each year, there are around 600 walk in patients in comparison to the 1600 referred patients. Taking this into perspective, if there are 250 operating days each year, it adds up to an average of 2.4 walk-in patients per day.

Scheduling issues – Long term

The MRI clinic is currently scheduled for one scan per hour and is having difficulty in reaching the promised output of two scans per hour. Additionally, patients are also being scheduled in at the wrong times or are not properly being screened which causes further delays. There are also patients who are scheduled even when they do not require an MRI scan because of their medical conditions. Moreover, there are multiple mistakes being made on the MRI form which causes the MR Technologists to question their abilities. The appointment form for scheduling is not legible most times or has incorrect information which also creates a bottleneck within the MRI process.

Process issues – Long term issue

When patients are scheduled to have an MRI but the technologist sends them home because they are not fit for an MRI due to medical conditions, the machine is left sitting idle for that time. Throughout the process, there are numerous areas of non-value added activity such as spending time greeting and escorting patients to the magnet room in the beginning and back to the front desk after completion of scan or to the change room.  The technologist also must perform administrative tasks such as printing, collecting, labelling the films, entering patient information into the system all of which contribute to non-value added activities that account for 95% of the lead time.

Backlog of patients – short term

The most immediate issue being faced at Quinte MRI is the issue of patient backlog which has now exceeded 14 days, putting a strain on the relationship between BCMC and Quinte MRI. This has resulted in poor quality of service to the patients and a loss in referrals to competing MRI clinics who can provide scan results in a timely fashion. The long wait times have caused bottlenecks in the whole process which has led to poor customer satisfaction and overtime hours for the MR Technologist.

Overtime hours – short term

Overtime hours is an issue on its own because the MR Technologist, Jeff Sinclair currently works an additional 40 hours in May at 1.5 times his regular wage which was becoming a concern for the radiology department manager, who wanted to hire another MR Technologist to help improve the process time. He is burdened with the delays being the only MR Technologist on site and must constantly run across the clinic to complete multiple tasks such as greeting/escorting the patients, checking health risks, waiting for patients to change if they have metal all of which are non-value added activities during which time he could be completing scans instead.