Health Care Operations Management: A Quantitative Approach to Business and Logistics

Healthcare operations management is the emerging discipline that integrates quantitative and qualitative aspects of management to determine the most efficient and optimal methods of supporting patient care delivery. Operations management helps hospitals and health systems understand and improve labor productivity, reduce waiting lines, shorten cycle times, and generally improve the patient s overall experience all of which helps to improve the organization s financial health. This text provides a well-rounded, comprehensive treaty on all aspects of operations management specific to the healthcare industry. It covers everything from hospital finances to project management, patient flows, performance management, process improvement, and supply chain management. It is written to balance theoretical and practical perspectives, by an author who has served both in senior-level management positions in large health systems, as well as extensive university research on the topic. This is an ideal text for university courses in healthcare management at all levels. It is also an excellent professional reference for healthcare administrators, clinical support managers, and supply chain professionals.

Dr. James Langabeer is a Professor of Informatics, Healthcare Management, and Emergency Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He has spent most of his career focused on quality improvement and information technology in hospitals and healthcare. His career has involved hospital executive administration, information technology startups, management consulting, and healthcare research and teaching. Dr. Langabeer was the founding Chief Executive Officer of Greater Houston Healthconnect (the regional health information network serving Southeast Texas) and helped move the organization from concept to reality. He was the Executive Vice President of a technology and consulting firm based in Boston that was widely touted as ‘best of class’ thought leadership on predictive modeling and business intelligence. He has lived and/or worked extensively in Boston, London, Paris, Rotterdam, and Tel Aviv, as well as Houston. He has served on the faculty of the University of Texas, Boston University, and Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Langabeer has served as principal investigator on many national research projects. He has been funded by the American Heart Association, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Health and Human Services, and many other agencies and foundations. He has over 85 publications found in some of the highest rated management and clinical journals such as the Journal of Emergency Medicine, American Heart Journal, Pediatrics, Health Care Management Review, Quality Management in Health Care, and Health Care Management Science. He is the author of 5 books, including Health Care Operations Management (Jones and Bartlett Publishers).