a) Discuss at least six operational challenges that can prevent CVAMC in

meeting the needs of the different types of their customers and the
organisations role in the community and with respect to its
competition. (10)

1. Not availability of facilities which are close to the inherent location of

the veterans. It includes finding locations and cost involved in the
same.
2. Not having enough staff for the rest of the community. Currently
physician staff is only 10% and it's difficult to find good resources.
3. Non availability of good technology and good instruments to be used
for treatment
4. Assigning same physician every time to the same veteran. Due to
shortage of resources same physician cannot be assigned to veterans.
5. The families of veteran patients need to be informed about the care of
their loved ones. They want to be able to participate in educational
activities. They wish to be able to support the patient when treatment
decisions are being made. They want convenient access to care for the
veteran patients, as they are often responsible for getting the patient
to the appointments.
6. Meeting veteran's demands and needs at every time as there is no
automated process to record veteran needs and medical history.
7. High Cost is a major factor for many veteran patients, since they have
little or no out-of-pocket expenses for care provided at the CVAMC.
Accessibility is critical, since patients are often unwilling to tolerate
long waits for appointments or long delays on the day of their visits.
8. Many patients show strong preferences for local access to care, the
ability to avoid bridge or downtown traffic, and ease of parking.
Continuity of care is important to many patients. Many patients want
their providers to be able to coordinate their visits and tests, with good
communication of results among their providers. Staff courtesy,
empathy and efforts to educate the patients may also be factors of
importance to health care customers. Another area receiving great
attention at this time is achieving increasingly strict customer service
standards.

b) Suppose there is a vacancy for an operations manager at CVAMC.

What should be a job description of the new operations manager? (10)

The staffing requirements at the facility include contract, contract-to-hire and direct hire

placement services. A background in medical staffing is helpful but not mandatory. Our

healthcare staffing segment includes clinical and non-clinical positions for physician
practices, clinics, hospitals, outpatient surgery centres, 3rd parties and other medical

facilities. This is a salary plus commission compensation plan with unmatched opportunity

for advancement and growth opportunities. Our business model provides the recruiter with

excellent support resources and advanced technology and tools allowing the recruiter to

maximize their time with high value candidates and clients.

Job Requirements:

This opportunity requires a recruiter who is willing to participate closely with team

members across multiple clients and job orders.

You must be flexible with a demonstrated ability to manage a blended portfolio of

temporary and direct hire placements.

You must have a strong commitment to individual growth, personal and team success.

Have a sense of urgency and a pro-active mindset

Must be an excellent communicator, verbal and written

Detailed oriented and ability to prioritize

Ability to work independently and as part of a team

c) The Board of CVAMC has decided to follow a low cost leadership

strategy. Discuss the content of an operations plan to support this decision
(hint study figure 2.4 of the prescribed book (page 73)). (15)

Patient-Centered Care: CVAMC is embracing patient-centered care,

which means that CVAMC will design its extensive services around
the individual needs, values, and preferences of our Veterans and
 their families. In order to be patient-centered, CVAMC will need to
build an environment that is safe, secure, comfortable, and
supporting of healing. CVAMC will become Veterans preferred
provider of health care services.
Team Care: Teams are the means for providing care and services in
CVAMCs Health Care system. Teams will map their processes and
define the roles and responsibilities of each member; they will be
trained and proficient in team skills; and they will develop a stronger
culture of civility, respect, trust, and integrity, and provide each
team member opportunities to shape how to best do their work. Our
teams will involve Veterans families and internal customers as
members of the team and collaborate with other teams to ensure
fully coordinated care and services.
Continuous Improvement: CVAMC is committed to continuous
improvement as a core operating principle. This means that all
levels of the organization will be involved from each employee to
national programs in improvement efforts, understanding that
improving our work is our work. CVAMC will bring the knowledge
and skills of system engineering to bear on all elements of the
operation and promote a culture where every employee takes
responsibility for the improvement of quality of care. CVAMC will
ensure that continuous improvement efforts lead to results for
immediate and long-term health outcomes for our Veterans.
Data-Driven, Evidence-Based Approach: CVAMC will provide the
highest quality of care to all Veterans using a data-driven, evidence-
based approach. This means CVAMC will use sound measurement
and analysis to identify successful practices and then methodically
implement them across the organization and ensure high reliability
in delivering evidence-based care. CVAMC will develop valid, useful
metrics that cover all domains of health care quality, including
effectiveness, safety, timeliness, patient-centeredness, cost
effectiveness, and equity.
Population Health/Health Promotion: CVAMC is increasingly focused
on health promotion, disease prevention, and population health.
CVAMC will assist Veterans in achieving healthier life styles and
focus on reducing health risks. CVAMC will develop a system that
measures health outcomes for both individual Veterans and the
Veteran community. CVAMC will develop systems to improve the
health of the Veteran community, concentrating on those areas
where supports outside VA are limited.
d) Quality is about meeting customer requirements. Suggest with full
motivation how at least two quality improvement approaches can be used
to improve quality at CVAMC.
(15)

Understanding customers and making a point of assigning same

physician to the same veteran.
Using automated techniques to record medical history and medical
items of the veterans.

e) What will be the advantages and disadvantages of implementing an ISO

9001:2015 standard? (15)
Improvement of your credibility and image Because ISO 9001 is an
internationally recognized standard, it has become the basis for
creating a quality management system around the world, replacing
many previously published requirements. When a company is
looking for a supplier, it is often a requirement to have a QMS based
on ISO 9001 in order to be considered. This is particularly the case if
you are competing for public sector jobs in many countries.
Attaining ISO 9001 certification can be a powerful marketing tool.

Improvement of customer satisfaction One of the quality

management principles that are the foundation of the ISO 9001
requirements is to improve customer satisfaction by planning for
and striving to meet customer requirements. By improving your
customer satisfaction you will retain more repeat customers since
happy and satisfied customers are the key to keeping customer
loyalty. And such customers bring in additional revenues.

Better process integration By looking at the overall process

interactions through the process approach of ISO 9001, you will be
able to more easily find improvements in efficiency and cost
savings. This is done through eliminating the waste that can occur
when processes are maintained without a view of the inefficiencies
that can arise during process handoff. The better process flow can
also be used to drive efficiencies towards fewer errors and resulting
reworks, which can improve cost savings.

There is fee in order to register for the certification, plus other additional
costs such as training your staff or for the extra time spend on preparing
for audits, but the benefits you'll receive from obtaining ISO 9001
certification will far outweigh any upfront costs. Besides having a new
high quality QMS in place you can use this certification across many of
your marketing platforms to provide social proof to potential clients that
your company is well managed, therefore they can expect better
services/products from you.
There is no substitute of ISO standard because this is founded on proven
practices followed by the role model organizations worldwide for ages that
made them industry leaders. The practices were indeed included in the
standard as requirements.

f) Suppose CVAMC is designed with 2000 beds for patients. However the
financial director insisted that best optimum cost will be to accommodate
only 1500 patients at any given time. Further, due to staffing issues only
1200 patients could be accommodated at any given time. What is the
utilisation and efficiency in terms of patient accommodation at any given
time? (10)

Attached