Problem $2.(45$ points$)$ PROCESS ANALYSIS.

HealthyCare Hospital specializes in providing outpatient orthopedic surgeries to patients in a

busy urban area. Lately, the hospital has been receiving complaints about extended wait times

and is seeking your assistance in investigating the issue. The process involves several steps,

starting with patient check$-$in$,$ medical history and insurance form completion, preparation in an

examination room, surgery in an operating room, and check out. Each of these steps requires

various resources and time, as shown in the table below:

Resources Task Average Time $($minutes$)$

Receptionist Check$-$in $6$

Nurse, Exam Room Preparation $15$

Anesthesiologist, Op$.$ Room Anesthesia $20$

Anesthesiologist, Surgeon, Nurse, Op$.$ Room Surgery $50$

Receptionist Check$-$out $3$

The hospital has $1$ receptionist, $4$ nurses, $2$ exam rooms, $2$ anesthesiologists, $2$ surgeons, $2$ operating

rooms, and $2$ recovery rooms.

a$)(3$ points$)$ What is the raw process time $($flow time in system with no waiting$)$ of a patient in

this process $($in minutes$)?$ Assume all resources are available whenever needed and there are

no delays between tasks $($e$.$g$.,$ you may ignore the time the patient spends walking or getting

transported between tasks$).$

b$)(12$ points$)$ Complete the table below. Determine the total workload assigned to each

resource per patient. Show all your work and fill in the answers in the table. Notice that you

will compute the capacity of each resource. Note that $$pat$/$hr$$ refers to $$patients per hour$.$

Resource

Processing

Time

$($min$/$pat$)$

Capacity of

each Resource

$($pat$/$hr$/$resource$)$

Number of Resources

per Resource Type

Capacity of

Resource Type

$($pat$/$hr$)$

Receptionist

Nurse

Exam Room

Anesthesiologist

Op$.$ Room

Surgeon

KOGOD SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

ITEC $355$ Operations Management

c$)(3$ points$)$ What is the hourly capacity $($i$.$e$.,$ maximum hourly throughput rate$)$ of the process?

Your answer should be in number of patients per hour $($pat$/$hr$).$

d$)(3$ points$)$ Which resource $($or resources$)$ is $($are$)$ the bottleneck of this process?

e$)(4$ points$)$ What is the hourly utilization rate of nurses if the bottleneck$($s$)$ work nonstop $($i$.$e$.,$

works at capacity$),$ i$.$e$.,$ the process is paced at its full capacity? Keep in mind that the non$-$

bottleneck resources may be idle during the day because the process follows the pace of the

bottleneck resource and that a patient is served completely on the day they arrive, i$.$e$.,$ there

is no work$-$in$-$process remaining at the end of the day.

f$)(20$ points$)$ Hospital decides to update the process in the following way because the demand

is expected to increase: add another operating room which costs $$1000/$hr and the

anesthesiologist stays only for $30$ minutes of each surgery instead of the current $45$ minutes

on the average. A patient brings $$4000$ in revenue, on average. You can ignore the fixed cost

of constructing a new operating room.

i$.(6$ points$)$ Update the capacity of the operating rooms and the anesthesiologists.

ii$.(2$ points$)$ Which resource $($or resources$)$ is $($are$)$ the bottleneck of this process after the

change?

iii. $(2$ points$)$ What is the capacity of the process now?

iv$.(6$ points$)$ Compute the incremental benefit of this change in $$/$hr$?$ Assume that the

process can work at its capacity. Hint: Consider the increase in capacity thanks to this

change.

v$.(4$ points$)$ Is updating process feasible? Prove your answer by comparing the

incremental benefit with the incremental cost of the change.The hospital has $1$ receptionist, $4$ nurses, $2$ exam rooms, $2$ anesthesiologists, $2$ surgeons, $2$ operating

rooms, and $2$ recovery rooms.

a$)(3$ points$)$ What is the raw process time $($flow time in system with no waiting$)$ of a patient in

this process $($in minutes$)?$ Assume all resources are available whenever needed and there are

no delays between tasks $($e$.$g$.,$ you may ignore the time the patient spends walking or getting

transported between tasks$).$

b$)(12$ points$)$ Complete the table below. Determine the total workload assigned to each

resource per patient. Show all your work and fill in the answers in the table. Notice that you

will compute the capacity of each resource. Note that "pat$/$hr$"$ refers to "patients per hour".