Read and evaluate the following scenario Deen A Balkaran R

Read and evaluate the following scenario: Deen, A., & Balkaran, R. (2013). An analysis of hotels and its similarities to the management of hospitals: A case study of a Provincial Hospital in South Africa. Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, 5(9): 573-579. Assume you are a business analyst tasked with streamlining the processes at a hospital in South Africa to resemble the processes typical of a hotel. What would be your high-level project plan? Outline a plan that includes the project checkpoints (in a bulleted list) you would use to ensure project success. Your completion timeline is 6 months, and your plan outline should have at least 10 checkpoints. (one page)

Solution

Project Plan:

Objective: Providing best customer service at each and every touch points of the customer within the hospital.

Customer touch points in the hospital are :

1. Patient enters the Provincial Hospital at the security entrance and is directed by the security guards into the waiting area of the Outpatients department.

2. The Security directs a certain number of patients at a time into the waiting room whereby patients queue in the waiting room for approximately an hour before proceeding on to their next step.

3. Patient goes to the main Reception desk and gets himself registered and gets a blue card which helps in tracking the patients and maintaining records.

4. Once the blue cards are collected, they proceed to another queue to pay.

5. Once the patient has paid for their blue card, the patient thereafter waits for treatment.

6. A patient may wait for approximately 2-3 hours depending on treatment and tests required

7. The patient collects their treatment from the pharmacy and then exits the hospital via Security.

Total process at the hospital takes around 8-10 hours

Solution proposed :

1. When a patient is waiting in the consulting room, hospital can send an intern or a post graduate to attend the patient.

2. Reduce the waiting time by employing efficient in-house operations and streamlining the processes to conduct them smoothly.

3. Maintain a positive environment within the hospital for example Put inspirational posters, thoughts on the walls, Use of mirrors in the waiting areas etc.

4. Continuous training and development of the hospital staff. Employees must understand the importance of service and its relationship with the customer.

5. Create a customer relationship management team separately for interacting with patient parties and creating a positive environment within the hospital.

6. Keep regular updates about the patient\'s health and well being.