Healthcare Operation Management: Essay Sample

Introduction

Simulation for behavior analysis and patient engagement is one of the modern fields in health operation management. Currently, patients participate in decision-making processes where medical practitioners explain the reasons behind the preferred treatment options. Other cases of patient engagement include the accommodation of patient's feedback and adoption of consumer rights. Simulations have been applied in healthcare to identify malfunctions in healthcare, health risk assessment, policy predictions and to include human behavior in the creation of treatment options. However, the present simulation models experience research gaps which include a clear explanation of how they come up with the patient behaviors, narrow definition of the term behavioral and lack of clear roles of various stakeholders leading to conflicts. Besides, the current simulation models lack validation and calibration options which are vital in determining their efficiency levels. Such shortcomings necessitate the introduction of new models with the ability to explain the sources of data used without using trial and error and also have incorporate sociology, political science, cultural studies, anthropology aspects when defining the term behavioral.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Patient Engagement in Healthcare

Patient engagement is one of the aspects which has been utilized in healthcare and entails involving patients as decision makers, advisors, and stakeholders. Such a move is geared towards safety and quality, cost savings and patient satisfaction in healthcare. The application of patient engagement ranges from the decision-making process up to the accommodation of patient feedback after receiving healthcare services.

Simulation in Decision-Making

In the efforts of improving healthcare services, medical practitioners have engaged patients in medical consultations (Barello & Graffigna, 2015). In most cases, the prescriptions offered by doctors are seen as rules which the patients are supposed to adhere and patients experience difficulties in complying to such prescriptions. Patient engagement comes to the rescue as the patients are informed on why they should adhere to the medication and the prevention mechanisms appropriate in treating their health complications (Graffigna, Barello & Triberti, 2015). Such a scenario strengthens the patient-practitioner relationship as the patients are empowered to participate in the decision-making process, making them in charge of their health.

Accommodation of Patient Feedback

Patient engagement has been adopted in hospitals through the accommodation of patients' feedback concerning the quality of services offered by the healthcare facilities (Gorli, Galuppo & Liberati, 2015). For instance, patients have been used to monitor and measure the performance of hospitals by highlighting the services which are below the required quality. Since the patients are the one receiving the healthcare services, they are in the best position to examine which department introduces hitches in the healthcare delivery leading to poor services. This initiative has given patients the power to design a healthcare system which caters for all of their needs in an effective manner.

Consumer-Rights in Patient Participation

Patient engagement has been adopted in hospitals as a way of putting the patients in a position where they can exercise their consumer rights (Graffigna & Barello, 2015). With the increase in literacy levels, most of the patients are aware of rights when it comes to health consumerisms. Although medical practitioners are in a position to provide efficient healthcare, patients are also exposed to health information from online communities, social networks, and blogs. In this case, consumers seek healthcare systems which provide a democratic approach where patients participate in the process of choosing the right treatment option after being informed of the risks and advantages involved in each treatment option.

Monitoring Schemes to Keep Patients' health Honditions in Check

Patient engagement has been applied in the tracking of the conditions of patients through the use of monitoring schemes. One of such case is the health-care intelligent monitoring which detects signals concerning the health condition of elderly patients receiving healthcare in their homes (Triberti, Barello, Graffigna, Riva, Candelieri & Archetti, 2015). This monitoring scheme uses a computer which records the environmental parameters, movements, and bio-signals exhibited by the patient. Also, the technology is applied to monitor patient performing exercises in rehabilitation centers. Thus, patient engagement is applied to determine the efficiency of treatment options leading to the development of healthcare options resulting in tremendous health improvements.

Development of Consumer Psychology

The incorporation of patient engagement models in healthcare has led to the development of consumer psychology in healthcare. Consumer psychology helps medical practitioners understand how patients reason, feel and select the treatment options, care services, and healthcare organizations within their reach (Graffigna & Barello, 2015). It also helps understand how health management in patients is affected by factors in the environment such as media, peer networks family and culture. Besides, consumer psychology is imperative in gauging patients' behaviors since they are easily affected by factors such as cultural context and time. With the knowledge of consumer psychology, medical practitioners are in a position to gauge the adherence of patients to certain treatment options.

Applications of Simulation for Behavior Analysis and Patient Engagement

Identification of Malfunctions in Healthcare

Simulation serves as a tool for investigating the performance displayed by systems and humans in healthcare. These investigations can be conducted at or across multiple analysis levels which include individual technology, teams, systems and work environment (LeBlanc, Manser, Weinger, Musson, Kutzin & Howard, 2011). Some of the performance factors include demographic factors, personal attributes, teamwork capabilities and skills, work schedule among others. The investigation of performance using simulation methods creates an opportunity to generate vital knowledge needed in improving the training and education of healthcare practitioners, facilitate the introduction of new technologies and optimization of healthcare systems and work environments.

Identification of Possible Malfunctions in Healthcare

Simulations for behavior and analysis and patient engagement have been used to identify the malfunctions which might arise during healthcare and how to resolve them in real life scenarios (Triberti & Riva, 2015). For example, the perfect interaction model is used to address patients in the blackout phase who are unable to participate in the decision-making process. In this scenario, patients are guided on understanding their medical condition and how to form a positive intention plan. Patients may also be in the eudemonic project phase whereby they use medical apps with confounding and multiple functions. In this case, simulation helps the medical practitioners advocate for a medical app which is tailored to the patients' medical condition.

Creation of Positive Emotions

Simulation is applied in the creation of positive emotions among the patients, a factor which is associated with healthier living (Triberti & Riva, 2015). It is evident that virtual reality contributes to relaxation and brings joy to the people. This technology has been applied in patient engagement by using video games to create a virtual environment where patients are in a position to travel to the synthetic world. Also, simulation is used to augment the experience in emotional, informational and sensorial terms, an action which creates the patient's sense of control and pleasure, cultivating positive emotions.

The inclusion of Human Behavior in Creation of Treatment Options

Simulation for behavior analysis has been used in the incorporation of human behavior in the creation of the effective treatment options. For example, the PECS model is used in healthcare to monitor the human behavior by using variables from four classes which include social status, cognition, emotions and physical state (Brailsford & Schmidt, 2003). It should be noted that the spread of diseases such as the HIV/AIDS does not solely rely on physiological and biological factors, but also behavioral factors such as sexual partners and protection use (Talib, Silver, Coupey & Bauman, 2013). At this instance, simulation is used to paint a picture of all the parameters which contribute to the prevalence of disease by monitoring the patient's behavior and creating the appropriate options to combat its spread.

Determination of Model Efficiency

Simulations are applied to test the efficiency of the models used in healthcare as explained by O'Keefe (2016). In the quest for efficient healthcare, researchers have resulted in the creation of models which study human behavior, habits, and choices to come up with the medical options which accommodate such issues (O'Keefe, 2016). However, these models might not function as required, leading to the use of simulations to gauge their performance. For example, simulation is used to determine the accuracy of the decision- making process when formulating research models. Simulations keep the models in check by measuring their efficiency ensuring that they achieve maximum success when analyzing health complication.

Emergency Planning

Healthcare systems have incorporated simulations in emergency planning as noted by Mustafee (2016). Emergencies occur suddenly and cannot be predicted, a characteristic which makes their prevention a difficult task. Emergencies in healthcare include hospital admissions, patients referred from other hospitals and patients in need of urgent surgery. However, their advance effects can be avoided by better planning, preparedness, and immediate responses. Models are used to identify the areas which experience more emergency cases and provide solutions such as the provision of 24/7 telephone services and more nurses to handle patients in such cases.

Health Risk Assessment

Simulations such as Monte Carlo simulations have been used to assess the health risks present in surrounding environments (Arenas, Lett, Klusaritz & Teitelman, 2017). The occurrence of health complications is linked with exposures such as ingestion, inhalation or through the skin. With such information, the Monte Carlo simulation uses the statistical or mathematical framework to determine the probability of these risks of posing health effects to people residing in such environments. This technique is advantageous when vast algorithms are required to address multi-pathways which contribute to human exposure to risks.

Simulations in Policy Making

Healthcare systems are complex systems as they involve diverse practitioners such as pharmacists, nurses, patients and physicians (Lame & Simmons, 2018). In such complex scenarios, policy makers and managers must ensure the policies adopted favor all the parties. For instance, a decision to assign a specific number of patients to a health practitioner helps reduce work burnouts and occupational stress. However, this decision does not favor the patients as they will experience difficulties when seeking medical attention due to the limited number of practitioners. When ensuring all the parties are accommodated by policies, simulations are used to predict the effects of the proposed policies to each group and to choose policies which favor all the i...