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Development of guiding principles based on factory planning for the design of flow-oriented hospitals with changeable spatial, technical and organizational concepts (MedFAP)

Subject Area Production Systems, Operations Management, Quality Management and Factory Planning
Term from 2021 to 2025
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 456684366
 
Final Report Year 2025

Final Report Abstract

Due to the tense financial situation of hospitals and the turbulent environment in which hospitals operate, flow orientation of the layout and transformability were formulated as requirements for hospitals. The flow orientation should enable hospital operations and their processes to run efficiently so that costs can be saved. The transformability should enable hospitals to adapt appropriately to changing environmental requirements and thus remain operational in the long term. For both flow orientation and transformability, there are established concepts in factory planning that have not previously existed for hospitals. Under the working hypothesis that factory and hospital systems are comparable, the research project aimed to transfer concepts for flow orientation and transformability from factory planning to hospital systems. To design a flow-oriented hospital layout, general structural elements were identified and their design options were discussed as a means of supporting structural planning. Furthermore, an algorithm was developed to support hospital planners in creating the functional scheme, based on the structural elements and taking into account hospital-specific transport relationships. Subsequently, the procedure for dimensioning was described and restrictions were identified that have to be taken into account in the layout planning. Approaches were developed to incorporate these restrictions into an algorithm that would support hospital planners in converting the functional scheme into a realisable layout. In order to develop approaches for transformability, hospital objects such as ‘equipment for medical services’ or ‘layout’, were first identified. These objects make it possible to describe the hospital system as a whole and at the same time to design it in detail. For each hospital object, transformability potential features were then identified, which are precise, objective characteristics that influence the transformation potential of an object. On this basis, it was possible to develop a maturity model that can be used to evaluate the actual transformability of a hospital system. A scenario analysis was carried out to evaluate the target transformability of a hospital system. By comparing the actual and target transformability, the maturity model enables hospital planners to take measures that are in line with the objectives. The partial results were developed in close cooperation with hospital experts and validated with them. Although adjustments to the project approach were necessary, the overall goal was achieved. In addition, possible further research activities emerged that could build on the results of this work.

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