HMO Pharmacy Crisis
Case
HMO Pharmacy Crisis
Assignment
How do you think John should approach this problem, using what he has just learned? Assume that John really pick up a solid understanding of the concepts and tools of statistical thinking in the course.
Background
Juan de Pacotilla, a manager at a health maintenance organization (HMO), is about to be terminated because of inaccurate prescriptions. Pacotilla has asked a pharmacy assistant, John Dover, to assist because of his experience. A statistical consultant was hired to analyze the issues but, after two weeks, Pacotilla did not understand the statistical solutions and terminated the relationship with the statistical consultant. Dover hopes that his recent statistics training may help.
Statistical …show more content…
Thinking Statistical thinking is the key to finding a solution to the inaccurate prescription issue. According to James R. Evans & William M. Lindsay (2011) “Simply knowing statistical tools and methods is not enough; one must understand the role that the science of statistics plays in managerial decisions. Managers need to think statistically.” The philosophy of Statistical thinking has the following three principles:
1.
All work occurs in a system of interconnected processes.
2. Variation exists in all processes.
3. Understanding and reducing variation are keys to success. Managers need to understand the processes. This provides the knowledge need to determine the reasons behind any discrepancies and what managerial actions need to be taken to alleviate issues. When work is viewed as a process, statistical tools can be applied to create reliable, anticipated processes; study them; and expand them. Since many businesses do not plan for variations, it is common for managers to confuse common and special causes of variation. Understanding the nature of variation is the first step to reducing it.
Assessment of the Issue John Dover just completed the intense “Statistical Thinking for Continuous Improvement” course. Mr. Pacotilla recognized that John’s ideas and suggestions are important regardless of his title since John is at the pharmacy every day. With John’s experience in the pharmacy, he knows the pharmacy’s day-to-day operations. With the help of John, Pacotilla is looking to find the root causes of the errors and designing a solid method of improving prescription …show more content…
accuracy. The people that are not employed at the pharmacy (doctors, nurses, hospitals, etc.) must comprehend the meanings of variation.
As James R. Evans & William M. Lindsay (2011) points out, “The complex interactions of variations in materials, tools, machines, operators, and the environment are not easily understood. Variation due to any of these individual sources appears at random; individual sources cannot be identified or explained. However, their combined effect is stable and can usually be predicted statistically. These common causes of variation are factors that are present as a natural part of a process. The remaining variation in a process is the result of special causes which arise from external sources that are not inherent in the process.”
Recommendations
The statistical consultant has already suggested that inaccurate prescriptions can be caused by common causes or by special causes (assignable causes). A team should be formed consisting of the people from the groups that were doing the finger pointing (doctors, pharmacy assistants, pharmacists, etc.). Using the following approach should yield the desired results:
• An approved operational definition for inaccurate prescriptions needs to
exist.
• Gathering and charting the special causes data on the quantity of inaccurate prescriptions and on the number of errors per prescription needs to be performed.
• Perform statistical analysis on all the data gathered and charted to find the root cause.
• Perform Hypothesis Testing to evaluate contrasting propositions.
• Since time is an issue, use the Design of Experiments (DOE) to test solutions to narrow down the variables.1
• Studying the in place system after the changes have been applied and the system is functioning properly. This will identify systemic effects that could be causing potential errors.
• Create a cooperation between all the different departments and vendors to confirm that everyone knows the aim of the HMO. Using a team approach between the stakeholders will make sure that they work together to reduce any arising issues and document the developed processes.
HMO Pharmacy Crisis
Assignment
How do you think John should approach this problem, using what he has just learned? Assume that John really pick up a solid understanding of the concepts and tools of statistical thinking in the course.
Background
Juan de Pacotilla, a manager at a health maintenance organization (HMO), is about to be terminated because of inaccurate prescriptions. Pacotilla has asked a pharmacy assistant, John Dover, to assist because of his experience. A statistical consultant was hired to analyze the issues but, after two weeks, Pacotilla did not understand the statistical solutions and terminated the relationship with the statistical consultant. Dover hopes that his recent statistics training may help.
Statistical …show more content…
Thinking Statistical thinking is the key to finding a solution to the inaccurate prescription issue. According to James R. Evans & William M. Lindsay (2011) “Simply knowing statistical tools and methods is not enough; one must understand the role that the science of statistics plays in managerial decisions. Managers need to think statistically.” The philosophy of Statistical thinking has the following three principles:
1.
All work occurs in a system of interconnected processes.
2. Variation exists in all processes.
3. Understanding and reducing variation are keys to success. Managers need to understand the processes. This provides the knowledge need to determine the reasons behind any discrepancies and what managerial actions need to be taken to alleviate issues. When work is viewed as a process, statistical tools can be applied to create reliable, anticipated processes; study them; and expand them. Since many businesses do not plan for variations, it is common for managers to confuse common and special causes of variation. Understanding the nature of variation is the first step to reducing it.
Assessment of the Issue John Dover just completed the intense “Statistical Thinking for Continuous Improvement” course. Mr. Pacotilla recognized that John’s ideas and suggestions are important regardless of his title since John is at the pharmacy every day. With John’s experience in the pharmacy, he knows the pharmacy’s day-to-day operations. With the help of John, Pacotilla is looking to find the root causes of the errors and designing a solid method of improving prescription …show more content…
accuracy. The people that are not employed at the pharmacy (doctors, nurses, hospitals, etc.) must comprehend the meanings of variation.
As James R. Evans & William M. Lindsay (2011) points out, “The complex interactions of variations in materials, tools, machines, operators, and the environment are not easily understood. Variation due to any of these individual sources appears at random; individual sources cannot be identified or explained. However, their combined effect is stable and can usually be predicted statistically. These common causes of variation are factors that are present as a natural part of a process. The remaining variation in a process is the result of special causes which arise from external sources that are not inherent in the process.”
Recommendations
The statistical consultant has already suggested that inaccurate prescriptions can be caused by common causes or by special causes (assignable causes). A team should be formed consisting of the people from the groups that were doing the finger pointing (doctors, pharmacy assistants, pharmacists, etc.). Using the following approach should yield the desired results:
• An approved operational definition for inaccurate prescriptions needs to
exist.
• Gathering and charting the special causes data on the quantity of inaccurate prescriptions and on the number of errors per prescription needs to be performed.
• Perform statistical analysis on all the data gathered and charted to find the root cause.
• Perform Hypothesis Testing to evaluate contrasting propositions.
• Since time is an issue, use the Design of Experiments (DOE) to test solutions to narrow down the variables.1
• Studying the in place system after the changes have been applied and the system is functioning properly. This will identify systemic effects that could be causing potential errors.
• Create a cooperation between all the different departments and vendors to confirm that everyone knows the aim of the HMO. Using a team approach between the stakeholders will make sure that they work together to reduce any arising issues and document the developed processes.