Conference Agenda

Healthcare operations has gained significant traction in the last decade. Advancement in different types of technologies applicable in healthcare operations has increasingly attracted the Operations Management scholars to investigate the role of technology in healthcare context. This paper is an effort to unravel the intellectual structure of the scholarly work at the interface of technology and healthcare operations. We conduct a bibliometric analysis of more than 500 articles. The analysis provides an understanding of the evolution and the current state of the interface. It further identifies promising themes and interesting research questions emerging in the area. We discuss the implications of these trends for the operations scholars as well as practitioners. Our work can guide the researchers with a comprehensive overview of the interface.

In healthcare organizations, the significance of teamwork has expanded substantially, becoming a pivotal factor in delivering effective care. Insert in this context, the present research investigates how individual and collective behaviors influence team coordination during healthcare meetings. Utilizing Sociometric Badges for data collection (150 observations), the study quantitatively analyzes participants' behaviors and interactions during cross-functional meetings in the Breast Unit of an Italian University Hospital through 150 observations. Preliminary findings suggest that greater physical activity, inconsistent body movement, extensive speaking, and low consistency in speech may decrease coordination efficacy and negatively impact the participation level. On the contrary, high consistency in speech and enhanced proximity among team members seems to bolster the participants’ satisfaction and coordination efficacy. These insights offer valuable contributions to improving operational effectiveness in healthcare organizations by providing a nuanced understanding of teamwork and its impact on collaborative activities.

The Italian healthcare system has historically prioritised hospitals resulting in poor integration between hospital departments and primary care services. The recent introduction of Community Health Centres (CHCs) aims to improve primary care organisations, especially for chronic conditions, by providing coordinated and comprehensive responses to primary care needs. Based on the insights from the study conducted by Bruni et al. (2023) on the experiences of CHCs in the Emilia-Romagna region limited to diabetic emergencies, we want to determine whether the opening of these centres in Tuscany has mitigated inappropriate access to the Emergency Departments by facilitating their decongestion. We employ econometric and counterfactual approaches for assessing the causal effects of interventions (Mithas et al., 2022). The expected results would assist regional and local managers in making optimal decisions regarding the redistribution of healthcare resources to enhance CHCs’ performances and boost cost-effectiveness.

Heavy investments and fierce competition invite the adoption of innovative medical devices (MDs) in health care. However, constant technological evolution and limited financial resources limit the selection of only those demonstrating significant benefits relative to costs. In this view, the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) has proven effective in informing decision-making. HTA requires high-quality evidence. Therefore, accessing expert knowledge pertaining to MDs could be pivotal for clinicians and health professionals involved in HTA. Through a literature review using the PRISMA method, this study reveals the inadequacy of current conceptualizations on MDs to guide decision-making. Furthermore, to fill in this gap, this study proposes a conceptual map of MDs aimed at informing decision-making.