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Introduction
Operational Research is the scientific study of operations for the purpose of
making better decisions.
It is a discipline that deals with application of advanced analytical methods to
facilitate better decisions.
It represents the study of optimal resource allocation.
In simple terms, it is described as the science of better
Now a days the principles and techniques of Operational Research are being
applied in every field of human research and development
HISTORY
Operational Research has been existed as a science since 1930s.
But as a formal discipline Operational Research originated by the efforts of
military planner during World War II
The analytical study of military problems was undertaken to provide scientific
basis for decisions to improve military operations.
In the decade after World War-II the techniques began to be applied more
widely in problems of business, industries and societies
Since the time Operational Research has expanded into a field widely used in
industries ranging from petro- chemical to airlines, finances, logistics and
government.
Now it has become an area of active academic and industrial research
The techniques of Operational Research have been applied and proven in many
industries under different names. For instance :- - Lean in manufacturing. Supply Chain in logistics and - Yield Management in airlines.
-Planning
-Facility location and layout
-Workforce & workload models
-Decision support systems
-Performance measurement & modeling
-Queuing models
-Quality management
Economic Analysis:
-Equipment evaluation & selection models
-Optimal pricing and costing models
-Demand forecasting and planning models
-Impact of policies on health care demand
-Technology assessment.
Public Policy:
-Regional planning and network models
-Access and availability population models
-Technology diffusion models
-Disease prevention
-Health care coverage
-Vaccine modeling
-Organ allocation models
-Disease screening
-Resource allocation
-Drug policies
-Blood supply management policies
Clinical Applications:
-Risk assessment and analysis
-Clinical diagnosis and decision making
-Decision support systems
-Disease modeling (individual level)
-Treatment design and planning
-Drug selection models
-Optimal dosing models
-Vaccine models
-Clinical qualities
In the context of material and patient flows, hospital logistics and OM provide a
broad range of applications suitable for analysis using OR techniques
An area that has received considerable attention among operations researchers
is workforce scheduling, and in particular, nurse roistering.
The problem of constructing work timetables for nurses to cover fluctuating
demand requirements is extremely difficult.
The rosters must satisfy work regulations, distinguish between permanent and
casual staff, assign suitably qualified nurses, distribute night and weekend shifts
equitably among nurses, allow for leave and days, and accommodate a range of
employee preferences.
Despite the vast body of literature on production planning and inventory
control, the translation of well-known practices into the hospital environment is
not as widespread as might be hoped. Purchasing, distribution, and inventory
management of medical supplies could greatly benefit from OR
Identifying problems
Operational research methods are useful for the systematic identification of
problems and the search for potential solutions. Structured approaches to
identifying options, such as the strategic choice approach23 or systematic
creativity approaches. New approaches are important for global health because
strategies and programmes must be designed to deal with both current and future
challenges from the global spread of disease to the impact of climate change.
This can sometimes take us beyond traditional forecasting methodologies to the
use of scenario analysis and other futures thinking methods.
Choosing interventions
Choosing appropriate interventions is clearly a crucial step. Effectiveness,
safety, cost and equity should all be considered and researchers will be familiar
with standard text-book methods for assessing these. But, in reality, assessments
are rarely straightforward. It is often more effective and efficient to combine
interventions, or to treat more than one disease at a time. For example, the
Hospitals are complicated places. Every day they must face the problem of how
best to meet complex, often rapidly changing clinical demands with the finite
resources that are actually available to them. Unlike many manufacturing and
service industries, few hospitals can draw upon the proven capabilities of
Operations Research based technologies to guide them with capacity planning and
with their daily operations.
At Hospital Navigator we study the logistics of hospital services. We use
management science and Operations Research techniques to enable hospitals to
treat patients better, to meet performance targets and yet contain costs.
Conclusion
Hospitals are under increasing pressure to reduce unnecessary costs while
improving the quality of the care they provide to patients.
There is much room for OR to improve resource management and thus making
supply meet demand for care adequately.
A fundamental requirement for the successful application of OR techniques is a
basic understanding of the core hospital processes and the way in which they
use resources.
There are many protocol-based care pathways for patients with a given clinical
profile that define the expected steps to be followed by such patients.
However, these protocols are often clinically focused and ignore the
interactions between processes and the use of resources.
Operational Research needs to be integrated as an essential part of monitoring
and evaluation efforts in Public Health.
Thus concept of MORE could become a new paradigm for enhancing the
practice of integrated monitoring and evaluation dimensions as one common
component into program management system.