Healthcare Expansion: How Unmovable Assets Affect Workflow

In today's healthcare scene, many hospitals are growing rapidly. But sometimes, this growth doesn't go as smoothly as expected. Let's take a look at what happened when a Canadian hospital expanded its radiation oncology department. Before the expansion, everything was fine—doctors and techs were right where they needed to be, next to the treatment planning rooms and machines. But then, the department doubled in size. Suddenly, the same staff was spread thin between the new and old sites. This led to some interesting changes in how staff communicated and interacted. The study focused on these shifts, comparing situations before and after the expansion. It turns out that communication and workflow patterns can get a bit wonky when key resources can't be easily moved around. So, what's the takeaway? Maybe we need to think more about how we organize and communicate in healthcare settings as they grow and change.

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