Capacity Planning in Paediatric Palliative and Hospice Care: An Italian Case

Authors

  • Chiara Pamich Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova, Vicenza, Italy
  • Anna Tiso Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova, Vicenza, Italy
  • Caterina Pozzan Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova, Vicenza, Italy
  • Franca Benini Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
  • Chiara Verbano Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova, Vicenza, Italy

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34190/ecmlg.20.1.3118

Keywords:

Hospice care, Paediatric, Capacity planning, Resource Planning and Management

Abstract

Although the growing demand for healthcare services has enhanced the occurrence of inefficiencies in care provision, healthcare systems should ensure safe, timely and equitable access to care. In particular, the long waiting lists, the lack of beds, and the shortage of healthcare workforce have highlighted the necessity to effectively manage and strategically plan the available resources. Capacity Planning (CP) contributes to determine what, when, where and how much product or service to deliver, with the goal of analysing and optimizing the use and allocation of human and material resources (e.g., physical spaces, equipment, beds, workforce) based on the demand. CP demonstrates to be extremely relevant for hospital units to schedule appointments, diagnostics, surgeries and admissions. Complex contexts and broader healthcare networks could benefit even more from this approach, helping to coordinate multiple care providers and aligning the available resources with the demand pace. The current research presents the implementation of CP in the context of Paediatric Palliative and Hospice Care (PPHC), delivered in an Italian facility. PPHC provides long-term, interdisciplinary and coordinated care between territorial, ambulatory and hospice services. It encompasses follow-up activities, parental training, end-of-life and respite care. In the Italian case analysed, the shortage of beds affects the quality of care delivered to these patients, in terms of accessibility to the service, effectiveness and timeliness of care. Hence, a CP analysis has been performed to pursue a twofold objective: a) to understand if the current capacity of the facility meets the demand for care; b) to improve productivity through an optimized allocation of resources, particularly the available beds and the healthcare workforce. The expected results involve a more effective use of resources, an increased bed occupancy rate and a reduction in rescheduled admissions due to inadequate planning. Optimizing capacity in this specific setting can serve as a pilot project for other similar contexts, aiming to improve patients’ access to healthcare services, their quality of life and supporting the workforce involved in PPHC. This research offers new insights from both the academic and managerial point of view, providing evidence about the implementation of CP in complex healthcare settings.

Author Biographies

Chiara Pamich, Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova, Vicenza, Italy

Pamich Chiara is a first-year Ph.D. candidate in "Management Engineering and Real Estate
Economics"; at the University of Padova in Italy, where she completed her Master's degree in
Management Engineering in 2023. Her doctoral research focuses on Capacity Planning and
Lean Management in the context of Pediatric Palliative and Hospice Care.

Anna Tiso, Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova, Vicenza, Italy

Anna Tiso is a researcher at the Department of Management and Engineering of the University of Padova,
Italy. She holds a PhD in Management Engineering from the University of Padova. Her research interests
centre around healthcare operations management, with a focus on health lean management.

Caterina Pozzan, Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova, Vicenza, Italy

Pozzan Caterina is a second-year Ph.D. student in "Management Engineering and Real Estate
Economics" at the University of Padova (Italy), where she obtained a Master's degree in
Management Engineering in 2021. Her doctoral research focuses on the implementation of Lean and
Safety Management in Territorial Ambulatory Healthcare.

Chiara Verbano, Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova, Vicenza, Italy

Chiara Verbano is an associate professor of Innovation and Project Management at the Department of Management and Engineering of the University of Padova (Italy) and Programme coordinator of the 1^cycle Degree in Engineering and Management. Her major research interests include risk management both in industrial and clinical context and healthcare operations management. In these fields, she participated to various national and international research projects, funded by public and private organizations. She has regularly contributed to scientific journals as a reviewer and she is author and co-author of more than 100 scientific publications.

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Published

2024-11-13

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 1 (2024): Proceedings of the 20th European Conference on Management, Leadership and Governance

Section

Work in Progress Papers