Applying Agile Principles in Healthcare

Applying Agile principles in Healthcare
Applying Agile Principles in the Healthcare Industry to Improve Quality of Care
Saumil Modi
Harrisburg University
GRAD 695 PGMT

Applying Agile principles in Healthcare
Abstract
This research focuses on understanding the concept of agile and its potential to help
hospital managers optimize the design of organizational structures and processing for combining
internal efficiency and external effectiveness. Hospitals have been characterized as complex
systems, located in dynamic environments, interacting with different heterogeneous actors and
factors with disparate demands. This research will help in providing considerations for health
care leaders for adapting Agile Management as their framework in order to support clinical
and/or operational process improvement projects. A problem statement has been identified in the
research that helps with understanding problems and issues faced by hospitals in providing
quality services. Environmental uncertainty needs to match coping strategies and organizational
capacities for designing processes. The four significant values of the agile framework include
Working Software Over Comprehensive Documentation, Individuals and Interactions Over
Processes and Tools, Customer Collaboration Over Contract Negotiation, and Responding to
Change Over Following a Plan. The Agile methodology can optimize the healthcare process for
treatment to be provided to the patients quickly. Agile Project Management helps in providing
solutions, develop and test them in an iterative manner until required outcome is achieved.
Keywords: Agile, Lean, Organization development, Healthcare

Applying Agile principles in Healthcare
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Problem statement and justification.................................................................................................5
Literature review..............................................................................................................................7
Summary analysis and Conclusion................................................................................................13
Gap in research..............................................................................................................................13
Proposed Solution Approach.........................................................................................................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16
References......................................................................................................................................17

Applying Agile principles in Healthcare
Introduction
One of the chief priorities of the healthcare industry is to focus on the quality of care
provided to the healthcare service users. The primary aim of the healthcare industry is to ensure
positive health outcomes of the patients. Using the agile methodology in the healthcare industry
has the potential to optimize the process and needs for treatments that can be delivered quickly
and effectively. Efficient software-based heritage of agile, differentiates itself from the lean
software-based heritage, which has its origin in the manufacturing industry. The term ‘agile’ can
be defined as team based iterative software development methodology. The agile framework can
be defined as a model that contains process groups that run in a logical order within a defined
period of time. Pharmaceuticals are suffering from large price hikes when it comes to vital drugs.
According to a recent survey, the average amount spent on pharmaceutical drugs has increased
by $456.5 billion in the year 2018 (Banos et al., 2015). When it comes to patients over 60, they
are found to require increased healthcare under tight budget restrictions.
Due to the increasing cost of products, healthcare organizations are finding it extremely
difficult to provide high quality services to the healthcare service users. Currently, not all
patients can afford medical treatment due to low income or insurance policies. This affects the
overall economy of the nation. One cannot ignore the fact that it is the right of all citizens to
receive quick and easy access to the healthcare departments. From several researchers, it has
been found that the agile principles, if implemented in the healthcare management system, have
the potential to address the above-mentioned issues. The chief aim behind the development of
the agile framework includes minimizing the enormous time lag between the business
requirements and the delivery of the technology in order to answer the requirements of the
consumers. Because majority of the developed countries, such as the U.S., are suffering from a