Application of a Human Factors Systems Approach to Healthcare Control Centres for Managing Patient Flow: A Scoping...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Operations Research
• Human Factors Engineering

Background:

• Healthcare systems are increasingly establishing control centers to optimize patient flow and enhance care quality.
• Healthcare Capacity Command/Coordination Centres (HCCCs) present design and operational challenges, with limited comprehensive surveys and human-centered design considerations.
• Existing literature lacks a broad overview of HCCC types, functions, and integration with risk management frameworks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and classify existing Healthcare Capacity Command/Coordination Centres (HCCCs).
• To categorize HCCCs based on their operational models (physical vs. virtual), functions (e.g., business as usual, surge management), and integration with risk management levels.
• To identify key challenges in HCCC design and operation, particularly concerning human factors and information dissemination.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature search identified 73 papers describing various HCCCs.
• Papers were classified based on HCCC type (physical vs. virtual), handled situations (business as usual, surge, emergency, mass casualty), and integration with Rasmussen's risk management framework.
• Analysis focused on categorizing functions and organizational layers within the identified HCCCs.

Main Results:

• The majority of reviewed HCCCs (71%) are physical control centers, while 29% are virtual.
• Primary functions include business as usual (48%), surge management (15%), emergency response (18%), and mass casualty management (19%).
• HCCCs managing routine operations integrate lower risk management levels, whereas emergent function HCCCs utilize all levels.

Conclusions:

• Effective HCCCs require addressing challenges in information dissemination and aligning diverse stakeholder perspectives and goals.
• Physical HCCCs are beginning to be analyzed through human factors principles to improve staff effectiveness in patient flow management.
• Further research into human-centered design is essential for optimizing HCCC performance and healthcare system efficiency.