Quinte Mri Case Study

QUINTE MRI

Written

Case Study

Prepared by:  Cherryl Santiago-Ladines

Table of Contents

Executive Summary…………………………………………….3

Issue Identification………………………………………………4-5

Environmental and Root Cause Analysis………………….... 5-8

Alternatives and/or Options…………………………………….9-10

Recommendations and Implementation………………………10-15

Monitor and Control……………………………………………..16

Conclusion………………………………………………………..16

Executive Summary

The Brenton-Cooper Medical Center in Palmer, New York has decided to outsource their MRI service provider to Quinte MRI.  The main goal for BCMC was to increase t he number of days available for MRI from two days to a full 24 hours/7 days a week operation.  Based on experience, Quinte MRI had the best impressive capabilities and therefore BCMC executive and board approved their service.  

After six weeks of operation with Quinte, the MRI clinic has been experiencing some issues.  There is backlog for the machine; the technician is being over worked and the demand of the film scans are not being handed to doctors in time.  As a result, doctors have been referring patients to other MRI competitors.

The main cause of these issues would be the clinic’s overall operation process.  There are bottlenecks that are contributing to the clinic’s low capacity to be productive throughout the day.  From communication to meeting time sensitive MRI scans, all of aspects need to be reviewed by Quinte’s business development coordinator, David Wright and Kevin Saskiw.  

In order to rebuild their reputation with doctors and their patients, it has been recommended that Quinte improve their scheduling process by investing in health care software that suits the clinic’s operation needs.  This will help the clinic’s scheduling department to be more organized and build better communication with the patients.   With the MR technologist being overworked, the clinic needs to review the duties/responsibilities of Jeff Sinclair and identify his bottlenecks to perform his job as full capacity.  Therefore, hiring a MR assistant would be a beneficial solution to ensure Sinclair is focus on the scanning process and getting the scans back to doctors in a timely matter.  The overall process flow from scheduling to the actual procedure needs to be revised to ensure the clinic’s revenues increase with the significant cost advantage that will offset the costs of hiring an assistant and investing in new scheduling software.  There will be no more overtime due to the assistant being hired which will result in savings in cost. Lastly, there will be a greater utilization of the MRI machines by delivering more scans throughout the day which definitely bring up their customer satisfaction with patients and doctors.