The study examined the nexus between operations improvement function (dimensioned by contingency planning, benchmarking and continuous improvement processes) and organisational adaptability of Petroleum tank farms in ...The study examined the nexus between operations improvement function (dimensioned by contingency planning, benchmarking and continuous improvement processes) and organisational adaptability of Petroleum tank farms in South-South, Nigeria. The contingency theory and the theory of routine dynamics underpinned the study, and positivism was the underlying philosophy. The study adopted the cross-sectional survey through the use of questionnaire. 820 middle and top-level managers constituted the elements of the population, and the Krejcie & Morgan’s formula was used to determine the sample size of 262 respondents. Structural Equation Modeling was deployed to test the hypotheses at a 0.05 significance level. The results showed that contingency planning;benchmarking and continuous improvement processes all have a significant positive relationship with organisational adaptability of Petroleum tank farms in South-South, Nigeria. The study concludes that Petroleum tank farms’ operations should focus on the adoption of contingency planning, benchmarking and continuous improvement processes to enhance organisational adaptability. Therefore, it is recommended that the management of Petroleum tank farms should put in place mechanisms to advance continuous improvement processes by allocating the necessary amount of resources, such as energy, time and money, in order to promote the continuous development of the continuous improvement systems. Furthermore, managers of Petroleum tank farms should make better the adoption of contingency planning, ensuring that there is as much necessary training and information for employees on how to act during a crises situation, in order to evaluate safety and prepare in advance for recovery from disasters.展开更多
BACKGROUND:Medication errors are a common source of adverse healthcare incidents particularly in the emergency department(ED) that has a number of factors that make it prone to medication errors.This project aims to r...BACKGROUND:Medication errors are a common source of adverse healthcare incidents particularly in the emergency department(ED) that has a number of factors that make it prone to medication errors.This project aims to reduce medication errors and improve the health and economic outcomes of clinical care in Hong Kong ED.METHODS:In 2009,a task group was formed to identify problems that potentially endanger medication safety and developed strategies to eliminate these problems.RESULTS:Responsible officers were assigned to look after seven error-prone areas.Strategies were proposed,discussed,endorsed and promulgated to eliminate the problems identified.A reduction of medication incidents(Ml) from 16 to 6 was achieved before and after the improvement work.CONCLUSION:This project successfully established a concrete organizational structure to safeguard error-prone areas of medication safety in a sustainable manner.展开更多
Purpose: To share our clinical experience of an optimized and comprehensive pediatric TBI technique. Methods and Materials: Through the use of incident learning, safety-critical areas were identified in our procedure ...Purpose: To share our clinical experience of an optimized and comprehensive pediatric TBI technique. Methods and Materials: Through the use of incident learning, safety-critical areas were identified in our procedure for total body irradiation (TBI) for pediatric patients under anesthesia for bone-marrow transplant. The previous procedure lacked flexibility to accommodate various requests from the anesthesia team due to the wide range of patient sizes. To address this issue and to improve the process overall, we updated our procedure for TBI simulation, dosimetry planning, patient setup during treatment, and in vivo dosimetry. A simulation form was redesigned with additional detailed instructions and documentation requirements. The dose calculation procedure was reformulated to remove dependence on setup variations. Tissue compensation determination and therefore dose uniformity were improved by introducing rigorous calculation methods. Calculations were performed on 28 previously-treated patients to compare the dose uniformity using the new versus previous methods. Results: The new procedures improve interdepartmental communication, simplify the workflow, decrease the risk of treating patients in a setup that differs from that used during the simulation, and reduce dose heterogeneity. The new compensator design significantly improved patient dose uniformity: 0.8% ± 0.4% (new method) vs. 4.2% ± 2.3% (previous method) (p Conclusion: A near-miss incident reporting system was used to improve the safety and quality of pediatric TBI procedures under anesthesia.展开更多
CDMOs are emerging as critical drivers of innovation within the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. As the pharmaceutical industry continues to evolve, we can expect to see CDMOs play an increasingly important role...CDMOs are emerging as critical drivers of innovation within the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. As the pharmaceutical industry continues to evolve, we can expect to see CDMOs play an increasingly important role in drug development and manufacturing. Many companies within these sectors are now leveraging the expertise of CDMOs through technology transfers to foster innovation and enhance the development of new drug products. In the extensive field of drug development, technology transfer plays a crucial role at multiple stages, ranging from preclinical phases to commercialization. By working closely with drug developers, CDMOs can ensure that technologies are transferred seamlessly between phases of drug development, allowing for a more efficient and cost-effective development process. CDMOs also bring a wealth of experience in various areas of drug development, including process development, analytical testing, quality control, and manufacturing. This expertise, combined with a focus on innovation, can help drug developers to overcome technical challenges and optimize their drug development programs. CDMOs can provide drug developers with various manufacturing capabilities, from small-scale clinical trials to large-scale commercial production. This flexibility allows drug developers to focus on their core competencies while relying on CDMOs to provide the necessary infrastructure and support for drug manufacturing. The critical role of CDMOs in advancing pharmaceutical innovation in phase-appropriate technology transfer where there will be a lot of effort and patience with strong technical expertise is required. This article explores the various types of Technology transfer from preclinical to commercial stages and successful strategies to foster innovation.展开更多
Majority of all the construction projects experience cost and time overruns for reasons which are many times beyond the control of stakeholders.To overcome the same,the concept of lean integrated project delivery came...Majority of all the construction projects experience cost and time overruns for reasons which are many times beyond the control of stakeholders.To overcome the same,the concept of lean integrated project delivery came into existence.Lean culture focuses on customer by empowering employees.It involves in converting waste into value by reducing waste,improving communication,and promoting teamwork integration through a common set of tools and techniques.Aim of lean construction is to achieve the affordable cost with optimum utilization of man,material and machinery.Wastes in construction industry which do not add value are supply in excess materials in inventory for raw material,work in progress,finished goods etc.Waiting for preceding activity,over processing and defects can be reduced through lean construction.This paper deals with lean construction techniques for identifying the waste in a construction project and eliminating the same..In this project estimation of a building is done to find cost of the project with respect to specifications and compared the traditional methods vis-a vis and lean construction techniques which can bring down the cost and with substantial improvement in quality aimed at satisfying the customer.展开更多
Background:Strong scientific evidence is needed to support low-income countries in building effective and sustainable immunization programs and proactively engaging in global vaccine development and implementation ini...Background:Strong scientific evidence is needed to support low-income countries in building effective and sustainable immunization programs and proactively engaging in global vaccine development and implementation initiatives.This study aimed to implement and evaluate the effectiveness of system-wide continuous quality improvement(CQI)interventions to improve national immunization programme performance in Ethiopia.Methods:The study used a prospective,quasi-experimental design with an interrupted time-series analysis to collect data from 781 government health sectors(556 healthcare facilities,196 district health offices,and 29 zonal health departments)selected from developing and emerging regions in Ethiopia.Procedures included baseline quality assessment of immunization programme and services using structured checklists;immunization systems strengthening using onsite technical support,training,and supportive supervision interventions in a Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle over 12 months;and collection and analysis of data at baseline and at the 6th and 12th month of interventions using statistical process control and the t-test.Outcome measures were the coverage of the vaccines pentavalent 3,measles,Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine(BCG),Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine(PCV),as well as full vaccination status;while process measures were changes in human resources,planning,service delivery,logistics and supply,documentation,coordination and collaboration,and monitoring and evaluation.Analysis and interpretation of data adhered to SQUIRE 2.0 guidelines.Results:Prior to the interventions,vaccination coverage was low and all seven process indicators had an aggregate score of below 50%,with significant differences in performance at healthcare facility level between developing and emerging regions(P=0.0001).Following the interventions,vaccination coverage improved significantly from 63.6%at baseline to 79.3%for pentavalent(P=0.0001),62.5 to 72.8%for measles(P=0.009),62.4 to 73.5%for BCG(P=0.0001),65.3 to 81.0%for PCV(P=0.02),and insignificantly from 56.2 to 74.2%for full vaccination.All seven process indicators scored above 75%in all regions,with no significant differences found in performance between developing and emerging regions.Conclusions:The CQI interventions improved immunization capacity and vaccination coverage in Ethiopia,where the unstable transmission patterns and intensity of infectious diseases necessitate for a state of readiness of the health system at all times.The approach was found to empower zone,district,and facility-level health sectors to exercise accountability and share ownership of immunization outcomes.While universal approaches can improve routine immunization,local innovative interventions that target local problems and dynamics are also necessary to achieve optimal coverage.展开更多
Performance measurement(PM)generates useful data for process control,facilitates communication between different sectors,and helps to align efforts on the most important aspects of the business.Thus,PM plays a key rol...Performance measurement(PM)generates useful data for process control,facilitates communication between different sectors,and helps to align efforts on the most important aspects of the business.Thus,PM plays a key role in the management of projects and organizations.PM is also important in the implementation of lean production principles and methods,such as reducing the share of nonvalue-adding activities,increasing process transparency,building continuous improvement into the process,and benchmarking.Moreover,the adoption of the lean production philosophy requires changes in PM.Despite its importance,limited studies have been conducted on the use of PM systems for assessing the impact of lean production programs in construction projects.In addition,studies on how lean companies(or projects)use performance measurement and to what extent the indicators adopted reflect the result of actions that have been undertaken are limited.This study proposes a set of requirements in PM systems of construction projects from the perspective of lean production and a taxonomy of performance metrics for lean production systems.Five empirical studies have been carried out on construction companies from South America involved in the implementation of lean production systems.The scope of this investigation is limited to the construction projects as production systems rather than PM at the level of construction organizations.展开更多
文摘The study examined the nexus between operations improvement function (dimensioned by contingency planning, benchmarking and continuous improvement processes) and organisational adaptability of Petroleum tank farms in South-South, Nigeria. The contingency theory and the theory of routine dynamics underpinned the study, and positivism was the underlying philosophy. The study adopted the cross-sectional survey through the use of questionnaire. 820 middle and top-level managers constituted the elements of the population, and the Krejcie & Morgan’s formula was used to determine the sample size of 262 respondents. Structural Equation Modeling was deployed to test the hypotheses at a 0.05 significance level. The results showed that contingency planning;benchmarking and continuous improvement processes all have a significant positive relationship with organisational adaptability of Petroleum tank farms in South-South, Nigeria. The study concludes that Petroleum tank farms’ operations should focus on the adoption of contingency planning, benchmarking and continuous improvement processes to enhance organisational adaptability. Therefore, it is recommended that the management of Petroleum tank farms should put in place mechanisms to advance continuous improvement processes by allocating the necessary amount of resources, such as energy, time and money, in order to promote the continuous development of the continuous improvement systems. Furthermore, managers of Petroleum tank farms should make better the adoption of contingency planning, ensuring that there is as much necessary training and information for employees on how to act during a crises situation, in order to evaluate safety and prepare in advance for recovery from disasters.
文摘BACKGROUND:Medication errors are a common source of adverse healthcare incidents particularly in the emergency department(ED) that has a number of factors that make it prone to medication errors.This project aims to reduce medication errors and improve the health and economic outcomes of clinical care in Hong Kong ED.METHODS:In 2009,a task group was formed to identify problems that potentially endanger medication safety and developed strategies to eliminate these problems.RESULTS:Responsible officers were assigned to look after seven error-prone areas.Strategies were proposed,discussed,endorsed and promulgated to eliminate the problems identified.A reduction of medication incidents(Ml) from 16 to 6 was achieved before and after the improvement work.CONCLUSION:This project successfully established a concrete organizational structure to safeguard error-prone areas of medication safety in a sustainable manner.
文摘Purpose: To share our clinical experience of an optimized and comprehensive pediatric TBI technique. Methods and Materials: Through the use of incident learning, safety-critical areas were identified in our procedure for total body irradiation (TBI) for pediatric patients under anesthesia for bone-marrow transplant. The previous procedure lacked flexibility to accommodate various requests from the anesthesia team due to the wide range of patient sizes. To address this issue and to improve the process overall, we updated our procedure for TBI simulation, dosimetry planning, patient setup during treatment, and in vivo dosimetry. A simulation form was redesigned with additional detailed instructions and documentation requirements. The dose calculation procedure was reformulated to remove dependence on setup variations. Tissue compensation determination and therefore dose uniformity were improved by introducing rigorous calculation methods. Calculations were performed on 28 previously-treated patients to compare the dose uniformity using the new versus previous methods. Results: The new procedures improve interdepartmental communication, simplify the workflow, decrease the risk of treating patients in a setup that differs from that used during the simulation, and reduce dose heterogeneity. The new compensator design significantly improved patient dose uniformity: 0.8% ± 0.4% (new method) vs. 4.2% ± 2.3% (previous method) (p Conclusion: A near-miss incident reporting system was used to improve the safety and quality of pediatric TBI procedures under anesthesia.
文摘CDMOs are emerging as critical drivers of innovation within the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. As the pharmaceutical industry continues to evolve, we can expect to see CDMOs play an increasingly important role in drug development and manufacturing. Many companies within these sectors are now leveraging the expertise of CDMOs through technology transfers to foster innovation and enhance the development of new drug products. In the extensive field of drug development, technology transfer plays a crucial role at multiple stages, ranging from preclinical phases to commercialization. By working closely with drug developers, CDMOs can ensure that technologies are transferred seamlessly between phases of drug development, allowing for a more efficient and cost-effective development process. CDMOs also bring a wealth of experience in various areas of drug development, including process development, analytical testing, quality control, and manufacturing. This expertise, combined with a focus on innovation, can help drug developers to overcome technical challenges and optimize their drug development programs. CDMOs can provide drug developers with various manufacturing capabilities, from small-scale clinical trials to large-scale commercial production. This flexibility allows drug developers to focus on their core competencies while relying on CDMOs to provide the necessary infrastructure and support for drug manufacturing. The critical role of CDMOs in advancing pharmaceutical innovation in phase-appropriate technology transfer where there will be a lot of effort and patience with strong technical expertise is required. This article explores the various types of Technology transfer from preclinical to commercial stages and successful strategies to foster innovation.
文摘Majority of all the construction projects experience cost and time overruns for reasons which are many times beyond the control of stakeholders.To overcome the same,the concept of lean integrated project delivery came into existence.Lean culture focuses on customer by empowering employees.It involves in converting waste into value by reducing waste,improving communication,and promoting teamwork integration through a common set of tools and techniques.Aim of lean construction is to achieve the affordable cost with optimum utilization of man,material and machinery.Wastes in construction industry which do not add value are supply in excess materials in inventory for raw material,work in progress,finished goods etc.Waiting for preceding activity,over processing and defects can be reduced through lean construction.This paper deals with lean construction techniques for identifying the waste in a construction project and eliminating the same..In this project estimation of a building is done to find cost of the project with respect to specifications and compared the traditional methods vis-a vis and lean construction techniques which can bring down the cost and with substantial improvement in quality aimed at satisfying the customer.
基金The project received financial support from Gavi,the Vaccine Alliance through the FMoH of the Government of Ethiopia.
文摘Background:Strong scientific evidence is needed to support low-income countries in building effective and sustainable immunization programs and proactively engaging in global vaccine development and implementation initiatives.This study aimed to implement and evaluate the effectiveness of system-wide continuous quality improvement(CQI)interventions to improve national immunization programme performance in Ethiopia.Methods:The study used a prospective,quasi-experimental design with an interrupted time-series analysis to collect data from 781 government health sectors(556 healthcare facilities,196 district health offices,and 29 zonal health departments)selected from developing and emerging regions in Ethiopia.Procedures included baseline quality assessment of immunization programme and services using structured checklists;immunization systems strengthening using onsite technical support,training,and supportive supervision interventions in a Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle over 12 months;and collection and analysis of data at baseline and at the 6th and 12th month of interventions using statistical process control and the t-test.Outcome measures were the coverage of the vaccines pentavalent 3,measles,Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine(BCG),Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine(PCV),as well as full vaccination status;while process measures were changes in human resources,planning,service delivery,logistics and supply,documentation,coordination and collaboration,and monitoring and evaluation.Analysis and interpretation of data adhered to SQUIRE 2.0 guidelines.Results:Prior to the interventions,vaccination coverage was low and all seven process indicators had an aggregate score of below 50%,with significant differences in performance at healthcare facility level between developing and emerging regions(P=0.0001).Following the interventions,vaccination coverage improved significantly from 63.6%at baseline to 79.3%for pentavalent(P=0.0001),62.5 to 72.8%for measles(P=0.009),62.4 to 73.5%for BCG(P=0.0001),65.3 to 81.0%for PCV(P=0.02),and insignificantly from 56.2 to 74.2%for full vaccination.All seven process indicators scored above 75%in all regions,with no significant differences found in performance between developing and emerging regions.Conclusions:The CQI interventions improved immunization capacity and vaccination coverage in Ethiopia,where the unstable transmission patterns and intensity of infectious diseases necessitate for a state of readiness of the health system at all times.The approach was found to empower zone,district,and facility-level health sectors to exercise accountability and share ownership of immunization outcomes.While universal approaches can improve routine immunization,local innovative interventions that target local problems and dynamics are also necessary to achieve optimal coverage.
文摘Performance measurement(PM)generates useful data for process control,facilitates communication between different sectors,and helps to align efforts on the most important aspects of the business.Thus,PM plays a key role in the management of projects and organizations.PM is also important in the implementation of lean production principles and methods,such as reducing the share of nonvalue-adding activities,increasing process transparency,building continuous improvement into the process,and benchmarking.Moreover,the adoption of the lean production philosophy requires changes in PM.Despite its importance,limited studies have been conducted on the use of PM systems for assessing the impact of lean production programs in construction projects.In addition,studies on how lean companies(or projects)use performance measurement and to what extent the indicators adopted reflect the result of actions that have been undertaken are limited.This study proposes a set of requirements in PM systems of construction projects from the perspective of lean production and a taxonomy of performance metrics for lean production systems.Five empirical studies have been carried out on construction companies from South America involved in the implementation of lean production systems.The scope of this investigation is limited to the construction projects as production systems rather than PM at the level of construction organizations.
