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We will focus on those that we will illustrate in the second part of the article as a practical example of the action research protocol (only the action planning phase), in which we are currently involved.įindings: Due to the peculiarities of the COVID-19 epidemic, it is reasonable to think that the evolution and duration of each outbreak, and the way it is dealt with, will be different in each hospital and/or each health department. We will briefly review some of the Operations Management tools that we believe are appropriate for managing this crisis. Our aim is to help reduce this gap.ĭesign/methodology/approach: In the first part of the article, we will justify that this crisis, besides being a medical crisis, is also a crisis in terms of resources. If those responsible for public health or heads of hospitals do not see this usefulness, then there is a huge gap between research and practice in Operations Management and what is transmitted to the healthcare sector.
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Our opinion is that Operations Management can make a useful and valuable contribution to anticipate and improve the management of scarce resources, even in times of crisis. This is in spite of the fact that some medical sources also consider this crisis to be one of resources, not merely a medical crisis. The result is that very few, at least when contact was made and at the time of writing this article, had consulted staff members in the Operations Management area for advice on this situation, and they are quite reluctant to do so. During the first six weeks of the COVID-19 crisis in Spain, we have contacted a large number of hospital and health department managers in the Valencian Community and other regions of Spain. Purpose: With this work, we intend to promote research on the application of Operations Management tools in order to assist with decision-making in health crisis situations.