Bo Blomquist och Tomas Engstrm 2015-01-31 1

Logistik och Transport

Chalmers Tekniska Hgskola

DEVELOPMENT OF A SO-CALLED COMBINATIVE ANALYSIS DATABASE FOR ALL

OPERATIONS WITHIN SKARABORGS SJUKHUS BY MEANS OF PROSPECTING SOME
PARTS OF AN ALREADY ESTABLISHED ARSENAL OF METHODS

1 BACKGROUND

The Swedish health-care sector has during the last decades gradually gained interest
from other scientific disciplines than those devoted to more pure medical matters,
which has resulted in that new research directions have been established regarding
health-care and health-care systems (see e.g. Jacobsson 2004).
More specifically explained, the background to this advertised masters thesis work is
a progressive research project within Skaraborgs Sjukhus (with hospitals located in
Falkping, Lidkping, Mariestad and Skvde featuring in total approximate 4 300
employees) (see www.vgregion.se) that primarily aims at making inventories of the four
hospitals operations, and connect such parameters to both organisation and operations
at hand within Skaraborgs Sjukhus. (The public property owner Vstfastigheter as well
as the four hospitals does both today have not have sufficient knowledge of exactly
which operations are using which premises since e.g. rents for premises are invoiced
indiscriminately only on yearly basis.)
Responsible researches within Chalmers University of Technology are Bo Blomquist
and Tomas Engstrm working at the Division of Logistics and Transportation (see e.g.
Engstrm 2014 for some of the methods that are available by means of an already
established arsenal of methods).
Due to these as well as quite other reasons, are such inventories called for in order to
fulfil new legislations regarding work environment matters that recently have become
valid (www.av.se). This has led to a need to delegate work environment tasks to the
approximate 125 different so-called sub-ordinate managers (enhetschefer in Swedish)
(in this respects are Skaraborgs Sjukhus foresighted). These managers must for these
know exactly which premises they are responsible for. There are also parts of the
premises that are more or less public (like some of the aisles, culverts, stairwells etc.), as
well as also other (types of) operations than those that are providing health-care
services (like newsagents, pharmacies, Swedish Christian Church etc.).
Delegation of the work environment tasks must in the future take into account the
dynamics that exists in a number of respects. That is, changing preconditions most be
accounted for such as the facts that organisation and operations continuously are
transformed, i.e. the four hospitals are unceasingly changed, employees are getting other
employments or they are promoted etc. (see e.g. Dilani 1996 who explains how health-
care premises are changed in rather unfortunate ways).

2 AIMS AND DELIMITATIONS

The masters thesis work aims at (1) by means of prospecting some parts of an already
established arsenal of methods develop a so-called combinative analysis database for all
operations within Skaraborgs Sjukhus. The combinative analysis database shall (2)
make it possible to grasp both organisation and operations, including exactly which
Bo Blomquist och Tomas Engstrm 2015-01-31 2
Logistik och Transport
Chalmers Tekniska Hgskola

premises these are using today. Consequently, by means of the combinative analysis
database shall it be feasible to understand both organisation and operations based on a
comprehensive (overall) view as well as also in far more detailed senses.
The combinative analysis database most in addition, (3) regard that the information
therein continuously are reformed, i.e. it must therefore be simple to carry out various
analyses and also use the database for presenting information in flexible and user-
friendly ways. Such flexibilities and user-friendliness will among other things mean that
the approximate 125 different sub-ordinate managers will receive direct help. But at the
same time shall more superior managers (e.g. so-called unit managers and operation
managers) (verksamhetschefer and omrdeschefer in Swedish) be able to in the
future gain specific possibilities to administrate and monitor the types of problems that
only have been hinted exist above and below.
In addition, this means that it thereby (4) should be possible to articulate a number of
constructive demands on future development of information systems and/or on
reconfiguration of some of the present information systems (this in spite of the fact that
this masters thesis work is not aimed at implementing the findings in practice, instead
is it a matter of in some appropriate ways prove and be able to illustrated and exemplify
such demands).
Consequently, it is most likely not suitable to take advantage of only one sole soft ware,
but instead is it a matter of use a combination of soft wares like e.g. Access, Excel-
documents, SmartArt, Word-documents (mainly tables) etc. that have to be combined in
creative manners. In fact, already are a number of such combinative research results at
hand, which the interested students may come to the Division of Logistics and
Transportation and scrutinise before they eventually decide to accept this masters
thesis work (see Engstrm 2014 that presents some such research results).
*
There exists two completed earlier masters thesis conducted within the frames of the
progressive research project. These have (1) studied what was assumed being the most
complex cluster of medical operation out of the twelve medical clusters of operations at
hand (see Chalien 2014). And in addition, are (2) inventories already carried out of
premises in accordance to what are explained initially (see Broniewicz and Person
Gutierrez 2014) (these two masters thesis reports are also available for scrutinising).

3 SOME AUXILLIARY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MASTERS THESIS WORK

There are in accordance to what have been said so far, already established methods that
could be applied immediately emanating from the progressive research project1 and
also from the two earlier masters thesis works. Feel free to contact the earlier students
who are able to tell you something about how it is to carry out masters thesis works
under the tutoring of the two researchers.

1
A computer connection is available at the Division of Logistics and Transportation to the intranet of the four
hospitals with full entrance to some of the information systems. This is substantially speeding up the data collection
needed in order to understand some of the problems at hand.
Bo Blomquist och Tomas Engstrm 2015-01-31 3
Logistik och Transport
Chalmers Tekniska Hgskola

Note that it is absolutely necessary that the students are able to write and talk Swedish
since this masters thesis work involves how to introduce more correct and meaningful
denotations on all of the operations (see Blomquist and Engstrm 2014 that partly deals
with such initiatives).
Finally, it is in fact a matter of more general types of problems that will be illuminated
further which thus are valid for other sectors than solely health-care and health-care
systems. The skill mastered and experienced gain by the students are thus of relevance
also for (very) different applications.2

REFERENSER:
Broniewics, J. and Persson Gutierrez, N. (2014). A Qualitative Case Study on Mapping of Skaraborgs
Hospital. Division of Logistics and Transportation, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenborg
(M.Sc.-thesis).
Blomquist, B. och Engstrm, T. (2014). Frslag p benmningar p administrativa och medicinska
omrden, delomrden och enheter med s k ansvarsnummer inom Skaraborgs Sjukhus Ett mer frenklat
frslag (utkast nummer 3). Avdelningen fr Logistik och Transport, Chalmers Tekniska, Hgskola,
Gteborg (unpublished report in Swedish).
Chalien, A. (2014). Skaraborgs Sjukhus Kartlggningar av lokaler och byggnadsdelar. Avdelningen fr
Logistik och Transport, Chalmers Tekniska Hgskola, Gteborg (M.Sc.-thesis in Swedish).0
Dilani, A. (1996). Sjukhus i brukarperspektiv: Kvalitetsutveckling i vrdbyggnader/Design och omsorg i
sjukhusplaneringen. Institutionen fr Arkitektur och Stadsbyggnad, Kungliga Tekniska Hgskola,
Stockholm (Ph.D.-thesis in Swedish).
Engstrm, T. (2014). Revising the Administrative Codification of Organisations at Hand Within four
Hospitals in Sweden Formulation some research questions in relation our earlier research and
development work within the automobile and manufacturing industry. Division of Logistics and
Transportation, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg (unpublished manuscript).
Jacobsson, T. (2010). Implementiering av processlsningar i sjukvrden. Division of Operation
Management, Chalmers Tekniska Hgskola (Ph.D.-thesis in Swedish).

CONTACT DETAILS:
Bo Blomquist filosofie, Ph.D., 031 18 30 41. bo.blomqvist2@comhem.se,
Tomas Engstrm, Ph.D. associate professor, 031 772 13 48, tomas.engstrom@chalmers.se (responsible
person within Skaraborgs Sjukhus on request)

2
One of the two researchers has already conducted quite similar extensive research and development work in
connection to being (deeply) involved in the design, running-in and large-scale production of the Volvo Automobile
assembly plant in Uddevalla 1985 1992. This dealt with particular efforts to understand the (physical) product and
(more abstract) information systems that were generating the so-called (abstract) product information, this in order
to thereby gain a certain sort of logic in assembly work by means of e.g. both special designed so-called materials kits
and assembly work instructions. This was unavoidable needed in order to practice extremely long work cycle times
for large-scale production purposes.