Theses and Dissertations
Issuing Body
Mississippi State University
Advisor
Strawderman, Lesley
Committee Member
Greenwood, Allen
Committee Member
Babski-Reeves, Kari
Date of Degree
12-10-2010
Document Type
Graduate Thesis - Open Access
Major
Industrial Engineering
Degree Name
Master of Science
College
James Worth Bagley College of Engineering
Department
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Abstract
This research examined the impact of ED process complexity on hospital quality outcomes. Nine emergency department nurse managers from hospitals in Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana were interviewed regarding processes of registration, laboratory testing, medication administration, radiology, and discharge. Interview data was coded according to variables in proposed equations for patientocused, providerocused, and overall process complexity. Hospital quality was measured using existing process of care, outcome of care, and patient satisfaction standards. Results showed a strong negative correlation between process complexity and overall quality, suggesting that hospitals with lower process complexity experience higher quality outcomes. Regression analysis showed that the average number of patient steps in a process and the overall complexity the registration process were significant predictors of overall quality. Methods of reducing patient steps and registration process complexity are discussed.
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/11668/17243
Recommended Citation
Ruff, Laura Carolyn, "Investigating The Impact Of Process Complexity On Quality Of Care In Hospital Emergency Departments" (2010). Theses and Dissertations. 2814.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/2814
Comments
healthcare quality||process complexity||emergency departments