What are the advantages and disadvantages of a time and motion study in a hospital industry?

Time and motion study are two broad groups of techniques constituting the field of work study.

Work study may be defines as systematic examination of methods of carrying on activities so as to improve the effective use of manpower and equipment and to set up standards of performance for the activities being performed. Motion study, also called method study is the systematic recording and critical examination of the ways of doing things to make improvements. It involves investigation of existing or alternate proposed methods of work and improving them. Time study, also called work measurement, is application of systematic techniques to establishing time standards for carrying out specified jobs. It estimates how long a job should take and the manpower and equipment requirements for a given method.

The advantages of time and motion study in hospital industry are same as that in any other industry. These include the following.

1. To improve the methods or procedures adopted in performance of various jobs.


2. Improving the lay out of the facility. For example in a hospital it may include lay out for facilities such as overall hospital layout, lay out of beds in a ward, layout of support facilities such as kitchen and reception area.


3. To improve utilization of resources. For hospitals will include resources like hospital staff. operation theaters, hospital equipments, and diagnostic equipments.


4. To reduce human effort by proper design of processes. In hospitals this can also include reducing the efforts patients need to make for different actions involved in their treatment as well as for their routine hospital treatment and care.


5. To develop suitable working conditions. In hospitals this would include design to suit the requirements of hospital staff as well as the patients.

There are really no advantages of the time and motion study. However, we can think of some limitations. For example, the time and motion studies focus on the productive resources like the hospital staff and equipment. Traditionally these techniques do not focus much on improving service. However in hospital the level of service is very important. This disadvantage can easily be overcome by treating patients as important resources with specialized requirements. Similarly in some jobs, such as operating on a patient, the speed of completing the job is much more important than achieving efficiency. This limitation can also be overcome by appropriately changing the focus of work study and design.