Running Head: BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 1
Business Redesigning Process
BUS 384 - Business Operations and Planning
ASU
Step 1
Australian Medical services
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 2
The health system in Australia is very unique and quite enviable among many Australian
people and other people around the world. This reputation is basically shaped by the colonial
experiences that the country had. In the colonial era, the medical services were provided by the
colonial administration. It is characterized by Private and public funding with the government
and the commonwealth having the critical role to play. The Australian hospital delivers their
services under the cover of the universal national health insurance scheme that is financed by the
taxes. It also provides rebates against all costs of medical fees. Another thing to note about the
services payments in the Australian health medical services is that about 85% of the GP visits do
not occur out of the patient pockets since the costs incurred by any patient is always paid directly
by the national government (Australian Institute of Health, 2012). However, doctors in these
medical facilities are allowed to make charges on what they like since real cap on fees is not
available. In this assignment, the experiences of the Australian health medical service are
analyzed. Based on the service design blueprint, the health medical service is analyzed based on
the various steps of the blueprint.
Recently, I visited one of the medical facilities and the country and the services were not
entirely satisfactory. Despite the reputation that the medical sector has in the country, various
aspects of service delivery are lacking.
My explicit needs
Upon visiting the medical centre, I had various explicit needs to satisfy that were not
entirely met by the system. According to, explicit needs are those needs that are always easier to
understand. One of the explicit needs that I had while visiting the hospital was first to be
diagnosed and prescribed the right drugs. I was not feeling well since I had joint pain and severe
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 3
headache at the time. Therefore, I needed to be diagnosed and given drugs to relieve whatever
pain I was feeling. I also wanted to save money in the process because I had little cash with me.
My latent needs
According to Zhou, Jiao and Linsey, (2015) latent needs refer to the customer needs that
are not currently served in the market because they are not constantly requested by the
customers. Due to this, they are not likely to surface in the market research among many
companies. In most cases, they are the needs that most customers do not know that they need to
satisfy. However, I knew the latent needs that I wanted satisfied after while visiting the hospital.
One of these latent needs was convenience. I wanted the service to save me time and effort. I
wanted to be served faster and effectively. The other need that I wanted to be satisfied was an
experience. I wanted the medical environment to enable me to meet all the explicit needs I had
and benefit from it. The other latent need was quality. I wanted quality service from the facility.
The other unmet need that came into place through my visit to a hospital was the
availability of coordinated and integrated healthcare services. Most patients encounter disjointed
systems in which all departments are disconnected and the patient has to repeat themselves, or
re-tell their history or even wait unnecessarily to get information relayed between providers.
Shephard (2006) says such ineffectiveness does not only waste time, but also causes frustration
and a lack of trust in the system. As noted by the Australian Institute of Health (2012), the
outcomes of coordinated care models are high in that duplication is reduced, and patients have
access to timely services of professionals who store the essential information. In my own
experience, I understood that in addition to quick service delivery and good treatment, I also
desired an experience in my healthcare that would feel related and smooth. To illustrate, when
my doctor ordered some form of test, I would always desire to have the results promptly availed
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 4
to the subsequent professional without any delays or misunderstandings. The integrated systems
would enable me to feel that my care was individualized and that all the providers worked
together toward my needs. This unmet need allows highlighting that the patients do not just
expect the treatment but also the way in which the whole healthcare process will go and the
meaningfulness of communication and interaction in healthcare setting.
Another latent need I identified was medical transparency as well as transparency in
communication. Although I made specific expectations regarding successful treatment, I also
noticed that I appreciated being completely informed about my treatment. Transparency
encompasses offering the patient a clear explanation regarding not only wait times but
procedural options, available options and the possible risks and doing so in a manner that makes
the patient take part in decision-making. According to Martiniuk, Manouchehrian, Negin, and
Zwi (2012), communication will be the core element of patient satisfaction within situations
where one party can be quite vulnerable. Not being certain and uninformed, patients can feel that
services are poorly provided irrespective of clinical results. Hammer (1990) also focuses on the
fact that businesses ought to redesign process to make them more accountable and to obviate
those practices that bring confusion. In my view, having precise information on what I was
waiting because of what treatments were offered and what to expect with each one of the
treatments would have given me a firmer sense of control over the situation. Satisfying this
underlying need creates trust in the health care system and perceived quality. According to
Hammer (1990), the concept of transparency enhances the provider-patient relationship and
makes individuals feel a respectable active party in their care.
The needs that were not met
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 5
Despite the problems I faced at the facility, I was able to get treatment. However, my
latent needs were not fully met. One of them was convenience. The attitude and the slow pace at
which the medical practitioners at the facility delivered the services did not save my time which
faced me to spend a lot of time at the facility. The other thing at the facility that brought major
issues was the use of computer and computer related services. Frequently, there were complaints
about the slow internet connectivity and availability of files and data. Also, the service processes
involved the use of devices I was not so conversant with. It slowed the process since I had to
request assistance in most of the steps. These devices were computerized and I had to use them
in entering my personal information.
Self-Service or Assisted services
The service at the hospital was an assisted service. Even though most of the initial steps
such as registrations were done by me, the other services such as diagnosis and medication
processes were assisted. However, the personnel at the hospital made the experience unyielding.
Their attitudes towards the patients were intolerable. Most of them yelled at me whenever for
failing to do certain things that were needed of me. The location of most of the facilities was also
a problem because the building was vast and I had to move around in feet despite the pain I was
going through.
How to improve the service?
I think the service could be improving by making the registration process simpler. This
could save the patients time spent at the facility before receiving the treatments. Also, what could
be done to improve the services is to consider the customer’s latent needs. Improving the
convenience and customer experience could help in making the process effective. Another thing
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 6
is giving the personnel adequate training on how to handle the patients. Most of them are
impatient and rude and are unwilling to assist the clients in the complex processes.
A second critical means of enhancing the service is through reengineering of the internal
processes in the hospital to ensure they are more patient-focused. According to Hammer (1990),
the key to real change in organizations does not lie in automating the processes that are already
in operation, but rather in the entire re-thinking and redesigning of processes that would end up
excluding the inefficiencies. This may include reorganizing the process of patient transfer
between registration, consultation, and treatment within the hospital environment to make every
single stage of the process streamlined and interlinked. As an illustration, instead of forcing
patients to go to several desks or departments to have the paperwork done, the hospital may
introduce one point of meeting where all the administrative activities are carried out
simultaneously. Another point that Armistead and Rowland (1996) made is that traditional
process management that has centered on the business process reengineering should extend its
scope to continuous improvement and flexibility. This mindset may be transferred to the
healthcare industry to help to reduce the number of bottlenecks, eliminate instances of patient
frustration and improve the level of efficiency of the service provision. This would enable the
hospital to save time by refining work processes and aligning them with patient expectations;
therefore, besides improving patient trust and satisfaction, which would lead to the increased
reputation of the high-quality care.
Alongside process redesign, the service also demands a greater emphasis on accessibility
and equity. As pointed out by the Australian Institute of Health (2012), equity in accessing
healthcare is one of the foundations of quality service provision and therefore, all patients
irrespective of their backgrounds are provided with equitable and timely treatment. This
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 7
governmentally speaking requires hospitals to design their structures to accommodate different
needs of their patients, be it multilingual staff to serve the needs of their patients or the provision
of facilities that suit disabled patients or the enhancement of the patient scheduling systems of
patients with tight time limits. It is also critical to train individuals to identify and respond to
such needs with empathy as interpersonal relationships are the most important factors in the
perception of the quality of services by patients. When a hospital has employees who are friendly
to listen, give clear explanations of how to perform certain things, and offer an explanation in a
gentle manner, they will have a better chance of handling stressful experiences. Not only does
this help in the individual section of the patient experience, but it also enhances long term
association of the hospital with the community. Healthcare providers can achieve the results of
embedding equity and inclusivity into the service design to make them sustainable and effective.
Step 2
The actors involved in the provision of services
i. The policy makers
The policy makers are the hospital administration, the government. In Australia, the
government plays a key role in the provision of medical services. One of the activities
that the government does is the provision of funding to the medical facilities and
setting the overall standards that these institutions should follow in order to provide
the needed. It also ensures that the enforcement of the health medical policies is met
by the medical facilities. It also hires the medical personnel and overs promotions and
transfers (Shephard, 2006).
ii. Doctors and nurses
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 8
These are the administrators of the service in the health sector in the country. They
are the ones who diagnose patients, administer drugs, perform operations, and provide
prescriptions, among other activities (Shephard, 2006).
iii. Insurance Companies
In Australia, the insurance schemes play a key role in the medical sector. One of their
main activities is providing medical cover to patients. Whenever their clients need
medical attention, they are the ones to provide medical funds that make the process
cheaper and easier for the patients (Shephard, 2006).
The key activities I was involved in
When visiting the facility. The key activities I was involved in included the registration
process that was assisted by the nurses. The other activity was the diagnosis process where the
doctor asked a series of questions concerning how I was experiencing. I also took part in taking
the prescribed drugs from the pharmacy. Lastly, I was requested to fill out a survey detailing my
experience with the system.
The roles of the Actors and the valued added
The government is the key player in this sector because it provides the funding to the
medical facilities. The value is added by the government because its services include the
provision of drugs and payments to the doctors and nurses. The doctors add value in that they
provide their direct services to the client. They are the ones that make the system useful and
operative. The value is paid for by the government since the medical system is fully funded by
the government in the country. It is one of the bigger reasons why the system is esteemed in the
country (Shephard, 2006).
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 9
Medical missions and non-governmental organizations can also serve as significant
auxiliary agents in the healthcare sector, along with the government. These organizations add
value by bridging service gaps especially in the fields where availability of care might be poor or
in the supply of specialized care service where it is not available. Martiniuk, Manouchehrian,
Negin, and Zwi (2012) discovered that international medical missions to low- and middle-
income countries improve the local healthcare systems and offer expertise, technology, and
training, which otherwise may not be available. In even the country with the publicly funded
healthcare, the partnership with outside organizations will provide value in terms of knowledge
sharing, innovation, and additional resources. Such actors embrace sustainability through
boosting the competencies of local providers and making services relevant in the culturally and
contextually tailored manner. This role balances out government funding since it meets the needs
that are not well satisfied in the current system hence widening the scope and standards of care
provided to the patients. Zhou, Jiao and Linsey (2015) state that this way, the participation of the
non-governmental actors is useful, extending the periphery of healthcare services and the
effectiveness of the entire system.
Other health care professionals, doctors, nurses are also important in value addition in the
system. Allied health persons, administrative and community health workers all make sure that
the patients have a coordinated flow of care across various services. Their works emphasize that
convenience and quality in satisfying explicit and latent needs is significant (Zhou, Jiao, and
Linsey, 2015). As an example, the waiting times are minimized by efficient administrative
practices, whereas, timely and reliable diagnostic tests are performed by skills of technicians.
This is because community health workers, especially, provide added value in the sense of
bridging formal health systems to the local communities, which creates a sense of trust and
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 10
consequently enhances treatment compliance (Hammer,1990). These players are the face and
voice of the relationship and experience side of healthcare and, thus, patients feel that they are
not alone in their medical journey but are supported by these actors. Including their skills and
focusing on patient-centered service delivery, the system in question turns out to be more
receptive to the needs of the individual and the community, eventually making patients more
satisfied and confident in healthcare centers.
The local community itself is another key player in the healthcare value chain that plays a
central role in service delivery and improvement maintenance. Communities that are actively
involved in healthcare programs, be it advocacy, feedback or direct participation in service
design bring distinct value by making sure that services are cultural compatible and responsive to
actual needs. This is evidenced by the success of the QAAMS point-of-care testing model to
diabetes management in Australian Aboriginal medical services in which the cultural
collaboration dramatically enhanced the clinical outcomes and patient acceptability (Shephard,
2006). With community engagement, healthcare providers can detect underlying needs that
otherwise would not emerge when doing traditional research or policy formulation, and the
subsequent improvements would be informed by actual experiences. In addition, communities
can help through promotion of the activities of health promotion, promotion of preventive care
and also enforcing compliance with medical advice. Here, patients do not receive services
passively but as stakeholders in the activity of the service whose presence improves effectiveness
and sustainability. By appreciating and embracing the role played by communities in the
healthcare system, value is ever augmented not only by providing funds or direct services but
also by increasing the trust, competence between the cultures, and overall health outcomes.
Step 3: The interview
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 11
Description and reflection upon the conduct of the interview
The interview was administered through questionnaires and the researcher wanted to
know the experiences of the classmates regarding the health medical system in Australia. The
questions were designed and the interview was done.
First Interviewee
David
His Explicit needs
David is one of my classmates who were willing to participate in the interview. He is a
resident of Sydney Australia. He has a health condition that needs him to visit the hospital twice
every month. According to David, he does not like being in hospitals and he prefers taking short
time possible in the facility. Because of the regular school schedules, he needs to spend the
shortest time during his visits. When he visits the hospital, he expects to be diagnosed, gets the
drugs he needs and to know his health advancement.
His Latent needs
Since David does not like spending time in hospitals, needs a convenience. According to
him, he loves spending the shortest time and spending the little effort in his medical process. He
also complained about the usability of the medical facilities at the hospital. He found problems
using some of the registration toolkits that involves the use of biometrics gadgets. He also visits
the hospitals concerning his health condition because he wants a quality life. He needs to live
without health condition fears.
The needs that were not met
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 12
As per the interview, David indicated that he was not satisfied with the way the medics at
the hospital treated him. He mentions that he does not believe that his health condition had not
improved considerably over the years he has been using the hospital’s facilities. He says that the
way the doctors handle his situation does not convince him that they are doing their best to help
him. Theo the need that was not satisfied was usability. He found the biometric gadgets at the
facility to be faulty and difficult to use and he constantly requested for assistance. At the end of
the interview, he mentions that the facility was not convenient because he spends more than he
expected.
Second Interviewee
Jane
Explicit needs
Jane is also my classmate and a very calm person. She hails from Sydney and she
accompanies her mother for therapy every week to the health medical facility in the city. Jane’s
explicit needs are to get therapy for her mother and ensure that she gets the right drugs. She also
wants her mother to get the right drugs, prescriptions and food supplements during the visits.
Jane’s Latent needs
Since Jane only accompanies her mother, she prefers spending the shortest time and using
less effort in getting the medication for her mother. Usability of the various facilities and drugs is
another aspect of her latent needs. She also wants to have the best experience at the facility. For
instance, she wants a better reception from the attendants, she wants prescriptions that are clear
and easy to follow. The other latent need that Jane has is the need to experience the form of
productivity from the services offered.
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 13
The services not met
Jane complained that the hospital facilities hindered usability. She indicated the issue of
the use of biometric machines that needed more skins to use. According to her, the services were
inconvenient because the processes involved before getting the right medication were lengthy
and unnecessary since her mother had visited the hospital several times in the past.
Comparison of my experiences with theirs
There were instances where we had similarities in terms of the needs and the needs that
were not met. For instance, we all had the same explicit needs. I wanted to get medication
because of the health condition I had at the time. I need to be diagnosed and given drugs to ease
my situation. In the same way, David and Jane needed medication that involved diagnosis and
administration and prescription of drugs.
When it comes to the latent needs, I needed convenience, better experience and quality.
David had similar latent needs because he wanted a better experience, convenience and quality.
Similarly, Jane needed convenience and better experiences.
The other similarities are concerning the needs that were not met. All of us were
unsatisfied with the rate at which the services were offered at the hospital. The process took way
too long before we found the crucial needs were met.
The differences were also evident from the interview. For instance, quality was not the
main concern for Jane because according to her mother, the treatment was responsive and the
provider personnel were good to them. Their exit services were also advance and better because
her mother was going through a much more serious case than David and me. In regard to David
and Jane, I was a bit different with them because of the issue of media and devices. Mine case
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 14
was only a one-time problem which meant that I had not used the facilities frequently. Therefore,
I thought that the problem with usability was based on the fact that it was my first time visiting
the facility and that the issues to do with the internet were only a one time issues.
Analysis and the priority of needs
The main purpose of a medical facility is to provide diagnosis services, prescriptions and
treatment of patients. Therefore, after listening to all the needs of the interviewees and
considering my needs, the explicit needs were the priority. The needs to be diagnosed and given
the necessary treatment to supersede the need for convenience and usability. In this regard, the
priority for me, Jane and David were to get be diagnosed, get drugs and the right prescriptions.
The quality needs could be the second in the hierarchy because the medication should improve
the health of the patient. Third in the hierarchy is convenience. Every patient has no time for
lengthy processes because of the pain involved and the urgency of the conditions. Last among
the four is usability. This is because even though one has to use some of the facilities and gadget
by themselves, assistance is always available.
Patients usually report about the frustrations arising between their illness and
administrative practitioner. The diagnosis can be swift, however, the treatment is delayed as
paperwork is inflexible. Delays in this case only raise anxiety more so to individuals in
excruciating pain. Medical facilities ought to reduce these barriers when coming up with
priorities. Very specific requirements such as diagnosis are pressing but quality cannot be kept in
the background. An expedited procedure will fulfill immediacy but may result in errors in the
prescriptions or dose. These mistakes can produce complications that eclipse the relief in the first
place. Quality is thus, some silent workhorse in patient care. Constant follow up and
administration of prescribed medication by patients makes them more trustful of the system.
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 15
They are also satisfied based on urgency but also on accuracy and safety. Convenience in this
respect starts to mingle with quality. Efficiency combined with in-depth, culminates in short-
term relief with lasting recovery in the long-run. A patient is at that point heard and supported.
Plants that disregard such a balance can offer a short-term solution to it, which will not last long.
All patients do not group their needs sequentially. Convenience, rather than speed is
highly valued by people who deal with chronic illnesses. This means that they frequent medical
facilities and need processes that are smooth and may limit repetition of stress. Such cases are
also more concerned with the usability of the equipment. A person who requires supervision on a
daily basis might be interested in convenience and autonomy. In the meantime, acute patients in
distress are listed as the first on the list of new ones. They are this painful or fearful, so that other
considerations are subordinated to it. Cultural and social contexts can trigger the further
alteration of the pattern. We have some communities in which trust, empathy, and even respect
are given the centre stage. Less speed is possible when such patients are treated by the staff who
are compassionate and culturally sensitive. Priorities in needs are therefore flexible. There is a
threat of alienation of the groups with differing expectations by there being a strict hierarchy.
The difference must be determined within the facilities in order to provide the all-encompassing
care. Adaptation leads to the establishment of resilience in delivering healthcare services and
long-run improvement of relationship with patients.
Step 4
Redesigning the service
Organization redesigning is important because the constantly changing customer
dynamics and needs call for transformations. What follows after the transformations is a series of
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 16
changes in strategy on how services are delivered to the customers (Armistead & Rowland,
1996). Some of the reasons for redesigning is to eliminate some of the problems that customers
face in the use of the organization’s facilities.
In the case of this medical facility, the main problems included delays because of the
lengthy processes that consume the patient’s time (Martiniuk, et al., 2012). The other one is the
usability of the biometric machines in the facility. They are complex to use and some of the
patients find it hard to use them effectively. The other problem was the poor quality of services
because of the provider personnel attitudes and behaviour towards the customers. All of this
suggests a more significant shortcoming in the system the hospital has employed to operate its
business. Long queues lead to poor patient satisfaction because of lost systems and unhelpful
staff members who spend their time at the expense of the other persons leading to lack of
willingness to visit the place again. These deficiencies are particularly dangerous in the field of
healthcare where the sense of trust and urgency take the most major part. Patients not
accustomed to the technology and who feel abused will not follow through with actions and
advice. All these issues combined to ensure that already vulnerable patients had a frustrating
time. They are mentioned to have hampered their development as the systems were established
to serve them. This seemed to be aggravated by the fact that the staff was not even trained. The
patients began to lack confidence in the facility to offer quality services.
According to Hammer (1990), to redesign, the services of this hospital, an industrial
business model that is effective and that involves the use of capital equipment for lower costs.
This model ensures that the needs of the clients are satisfied based on efficiency due to the
urgency needed in the industry. This model will solve the various issues highlighted above and
described below. When implemented responsibly, the strategy will be able to restructure
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 17
workflows to remove steps and avoidable waste. As an example, biometric systems could be
streamlined or be accompanied by trained personnel to assist patients in real time. The industrial
model emphasizes that a process is supposed to be of value to the end user and not to overpower
them. Realizing this principle would imply reconsidering the system of registration, payment,
and even personnel distribution. The hospital would be able to shape up service points, which
would cater to the needs of various patients simultaneously rather than dragging patients through
the same line. It would make patient contacts easier and less time would be wasted. The integrity
of technologies should be improved to facilitate the work of biometric systems by the patients.
Employees would be in a better position to devote more attention to their personal wellbeing as
opposed to problems in administration. This strategy might be effective in the long run and
enhance patient satisfaction and efficiency.
Delays
First, the hospital management should understand their customers. These are people who
have urgency and lengthy processes are a problem for them. Therefore, the hospital should
reduce the number of steps needed before the client reaches the treatment point. This would
reduce the delays (Hammer, 1990). Also, investing in the number of personnel will help simplify
and make the process faster.
Complex biometric machines
Patients find it hard to use biometric machines for themselves. Therefore, there is a need
to redesign the process by assigning personals to complete the registration processes in the
hospital. This will reduce errors as well as making the process easier and faster.
Service Quality
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 18
To improve the quality of services, the hospitals have to ensure that quality and value-
based model is implemented. This is where the personnel receive additional training on how to
handle the customers. It could also change the organization relationships with the clients.
Monitoring
After the above implementations have been done, there is a need to monitor the process
and ensure that it serves the customers in a better way. In case of any changes, the monitoring
process will serve the purpose of identifying the need for redesigning, where and how it is done,
as well as its importance.
BUSINESS REDESGNING PROCESS 19
References
Armistead, C. G., & Rowland, A. P. (1996). Managing business processes: BPR and beyond.
John Wiley & Son Ltd.
Australian Institute of Health. (2012). Australia's Health 2012: In Brief. AIHW.
Hammer, M. (1990). Reengineering work: don't automate, obliterate. Harvard business review,
68(4), 104-112.
Martiniuk, A. L., Manouchehrian, M., Negin, J. A., & Zwi, A. B. (2012). Brain gains: a literature
review of medical missions to low and middle-income countries. BMC Health Services
Research, 12(1), 134.
Shephard, M. D. (2006). The cultural and clinical effectiveness of the ‘QAAMS’point-of-care
testing model for diabetes management in Australian Aboriginal medical services.
Clinical Biochemist Reviews, 27(3), 161.
Zhou, F., Jiao, R. J., & Linsey, J. S. (2015). Latent customer needs elicitation by use case
analogical reasoning from sentiment analysis of online product reviews. Journal of
Mechanical Design, 137(7), 071401.
