Modeling surgery ward activities in hospitals in order to develop an information system

Abstract

Given the current financial and cost management situation in hospital organizations, the information systems (IS) used to control and analyze costs have been a major hindrance in management and decision making. What happens is that the information needed for cost decision making is not generally available in those systems. We know that introducing costing systems in hospitals, such as Activity-Based Costing (ABC), makes it necessary to know the cost of services offered and also requires an IS capable of processing information adequately. It is then essential that the IS be well designed and represent the processes and the sequence of activities performed in the organization. The activity modeling should then allow the development of an IS adequate to its purposes, meet the particular needs of each sector, and allow the introduction of the ABC system. Therefore, the goal of this study is to create a model for the activities performed in surgical wards (SW), one that can be used as the basis for developing an IS of the hospital institutions studied. These multiple-case studies applied interviews, data collection and document analysis in three private hospitals in the city of Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerais (Brazil). The main result is the definition of the activity model in those hospitals SW, which helps identify and thoroughly understand the sector as well as the activities performed and the resources demanded, the focus being the internal control that will generate the cost information necessary for decision making. This model is expected to develop an IS that will work as the basis for an ABC system in hospital institutions with structures and procedures similar to those presented herein.