Your primary care physician operates a sound business practice that, at times, seems to suffer from several forms of waste. In your role as a dedicated patient engaged in the study of operations management, you are in a unique position to offer an analysis of your doctor’s business operation to recommend improvements. Consider the common interpretation of service processes in use at many organizations, which is used to identify four variants of a service process: The process that is formally defined and recorded in a business document. The process that everyone generally believes exists. The process as it actually exists. The process that should exist to deliver what the customer really wants. Using your arrival at the doctor’s office as a starting point in the process, create a document that describes the process of visiting your doctor for a flu shot. Be sure your document incorporates the following: Introduction – describe what you intend to do and how you will approach the task. A simple flowchart that maps the sequence of operations for either: 1. The process that is formally defined; or 2. The process that everyone believes exists. Your process map should include, at a minimum, all components of the process that are visible to the patient. You may need to make some assumptions about certain parts of the process. You may also choose to combine your analysis of the first two variants due to a lack of information on either one. A flowchart that maps the process that actually exists (variant 3). A flowchart that maps the process according to variant 4, as you believe it should be. A paragraph above each flowchart describing its key process components and identifying potential problems or elements of waste. Three techniques for eliminating waste in service companies (selected from your Weekly Resources) and a description of how to use them for this company.
