Operation research and health sector

Operation Research and Health Sector

-Anant Dev AsheeshIIHMR- New Delhi

FOCUS

• What is Operation Research?• How it is important in Health sector?

• Any type of research that produces practically usable information which can improve the effectiveness & efficiency of program implementation will be called Operation Research.

• Operation Research is also known as Operational Research(OR) or Management Science.

• It has existed as a scientific discipline since 1930s

• It helps in decision making

It is not much popular in Health sector because-• Less number of people have

engineering/mathematical background in health sector

• Major OR papers are focused on specialised and technical topics and not specifically on healthcare associated topics

• Lack of Data• Lack of Expertise• High fees of OR consultants

OR process

Identification of the problem

Possible solutions of the problems are listed

Best alternative solution becomes the piece of research

Note- Sometimes just the identification of the problem becomes the topic of research.

Health Program Cycle

INPUT

PROCESS

OUTPUT

OUTCOME

IMPACT

Operation Research can be used at any step of the Cycle.

Two main approaches to carry OR studies-1. Secondary Data2. Primary Data

The 4 types of OR studies

1. Exploratory Study2. Intervention Study3. Evaluation study4. Cost Effectiveness Study

OR can help in-

1. Bed Allocation by Specialities2. Outpatient Appointment Scheduling3. Queue Management and Design4. Planning of project infrastructure and

manpower demand

ThankYou !!