The Swedish health care sector is facing the challenge of an aging population and a growing need for medical care. Parallel to this, the development of new treatments makes it possible to treat more illnesses. The demand on medical services to care for and treat more patients will thus increase. Many reports indicate that the Swedish healthcare system, compared to other countries, has a low productivity. Slow patient flow through hospitals have been identified as one factor. Slow patient flow also prolongs waiting times and prevents patients from receiving care in time. A state investigation of the problems in the Swedish health care system, conducted by Stiernstedt (2016), emphasizes that improved patient flow through the hospital must be given priority. Olsson (2014) also stresses the need for a systemic view from those involved in the flow, to avoid sub-optimization. Stiernstedt (2016) continues and stresses that both the strategic and operational management of flows, should be identified and developed, as well as the interaction between them. Skaraborg Hospital Skövde (SSS) is a Swedish, medium-sized, hospital that has identified problems with its own acute patient flow and wants to improve their pertained management. In this study, a qualitative description and analysis of how the SSS manages its emergency flow, was conducted. Focus was mainly on examining acute flow related practices and identify limiting or problematic factors regarding these practices. The study is a continuation of the hospital's own mapping of acute flows. Based on the organization's worked out description of acute flow and associated processes, key personnel’s perception of problematic factors was captured. Interviews were conducted with representatives from different organizational levels of the hospital. Data, collected from the interviews, have been analyzed on the basis of, primarily healthcare related, theories of flows and theories of cooperation between professionals and different organizational levels in a hospital. Based on the analysis, several recommendations were given to the hospital regarding flow management. Given the particular circumstances found in a medical context, along with ever-increasing production requirements, the management of patients in an acute flow of is a research area that needs to be further elucidated. The theoretical groundwork of this study can be a basis for further deepening and understanding of management regarding acute patient flows.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:liu-164219 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Lifvergren, Axel |
| Publisher | Linköpings universitet, Industriell ekonomi |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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