Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (Image: Metro North Health)
Size matters when it comes to a hospital's operational efficiency and smaller hospitals have a higher risk of inefficiency, a study has found. When deciding on a hospital's optimal size, managers need to consider the clinical functions it will offer, according to researchers from The University of Queensland, Flinders University and Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service. UQ School of Mathematics and Physics' Professor Jerzy Filar said the study used known data, statistical analyses and simulations of various scenarios to generate outcomes in a virtual hospital. Professor Filar said at first sight, simulations might appear much like a video hospital game. "But they are based on careful modelling of patient data and judicious extrapolation of observed trends to hypothetical hospitals, scaled by size," he said. "The difference is that this study aims to help healthcare planners by testing how hospital efficiency relates to size, as hospitals operate under different conditions. "Due to their complex organisational structures, it would be unrealistic, costly and risky for hospitals to conduct field experiments to test the effects of any major organisational change.
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