To Boost Efficiency, Hospitals Borrow Principles From Factory Floor

"In today's competitive environment, especially with the severe shortage of skilled nurses, the pressure on streamlining hospital operations continues to increase," said Lin. "Health-care managers are seeking new perspectives and creative ways to manage their business. We can engineer medical services with improved cost, quality and efficiency."

Lin and his colleagues use animated computer simulations that are based on statistical analyses -- routinely used to model the flow of parts through complex manufacturing processes -- to uncover the bottlenecks or potential problem areas in health-care facilities.

"What do cars on highways, manufactured parts in a factory and patients in a hospital have in common?" he asks. "They all move. We use computer simulations to analyze how patients flow through hospitals, while ensuring that the drive for efficiency doesn't dehumanize patient care. As industrial engineers, we are trained to always consider the human factors in any system."