Examining the impact of health information systems on healthcare service improvement: The case of reducing in patient-flow delays in a U.S. hospital

The impact of Health Information Systems (HIS) on healthcare service improvement is well known; however, there has been a limited amount of research regarding the HIS payoff and how this has influenced the quality of patient care. By focusing on Kaizen, this study investigates the possibility of reducing patient-flow delays of outpatients using the HIS. By using a six-step Kaizen method, the root causes of patient-flow delays in the outpatient surgery process were first identified, followed by the development of potential solutions and implementation plans. Afterwards, the role the HIS has on the outpatient surgery process and the economic impact it can have on patient care operations were analyzed. The findings of this study indicate that the adoption of HIS has great potential to not only minimize the chaos and disorder in the outpatient surgery unit but also lead to a reduction of time and cost in relation to patient flow.