BACKGROUND: Mystery shopping is a method in which a company monitors quality of service and employee conduct and compliance with regulations using an evaluator posing as a customer. It is a typical tool of customer-centered bureaucratic control insofar as it provides overall and standardized evaluation of intangible elements of customer service as well as physical elements of service environments. The purpose of this study is to examine how mystery shopping is related to the health status of service workers in South Korea.METHODS: Data from semistructured interviews with 15 workers were collected from January to April 2019 to obtain information on service worker experiences with mystery shopping. Data were analyzed using the constant comparison method.RESULTS: Mystery shopping limits worker autonomy and stiffens the workplace environment by standardizing and monitoring labor processes for service workers. In addition, mystery shopping heightens work stress through increased labor intensity. Five mechanisms by which mystery shopping affects service worker health are identified and comprise (1) multifaceted and multilayered surveillance, (2) evaluator subjectivity and irrational requirements, (3) standardized rules combined with high pressure to achieve sales, (4) self-esteem degradation because of evaluator results, and (5) musculoskeletal disorders because of strict adherence to labor processes based on evaluator results.CONCLUSION: Mystery shopping as an evaluation method should be reconsidered not only in terms of health problems but also in terms of organizational efficiency and issues of human rights.
Commerce ; Compliance ; Efficiency, Organizational ; Human Rights ; Korea ; Methods ; Social Control, Formal

Clinical laboratories for in vitro diagnostics are facing pressure to preserve cost control while providing better services through new initiatives. Laboratory automation is a partial answer to this problem, having come a long way from the early days of clinical laboratory testing. The journey and implementation of automation in the Singapore General Hospital's Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory has allowed for sustained performance in the light of increasing workload and service commitments amid an evolving healthcare environment. Key to realising predicted outcomes is the optimisation of workflow processes, reduction of errors, and spatial placement of specimen reception and analytical areas. This paper gives an overview of our experience with automation in the clinical laboratory and its subsequent impact on service standards.
Aged ; Automation, Laboratory ; Clinical Laboratory Information Systems ; organization & administration ; Clinical Laboratory Techniques ; Efficiency, Organizational ; statistics & numerical data ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Laboratories, Hospital ; organization & administration ; Middle Aged ; Quality of Health Care ; Singapore ; Tertiary Healthcare ; organization & administration ; User-Computer Interface ; Workload

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to understand the concept of innovative behavior and its theoretical and practical implications for nursing. METHODS: Eight-step modification of Wilson's classic concept analysis procedure (1963) by Walker and Avant's (2005) was used to explore the antecedents, attributes, and consequences of innovative behavior in the literature. Electronic searches were conducted in PubMed, Google Scholar, OVID Medline, Science Direct, and ERIC databases using “innovative behavior” or “innovative work behavior”, “innovativeness”, “innovation”, “leadership”, “healthcare”, and “nursing” as keywords, with no limitation on publication date. RESULTS: Organizing the framework based on the method of concept analysis by Walker and Avant, defining attributes to innovative behavior were opportunity exploration, idea generation, idea search, idea communication, promotion of idea, idea championing, application, and overcoming obstacles. Antecedents to innovative behavior are categorized into three groups: organizational characteristics, work environmental characteristics, and individual characteristics. Consequences of innovative behavior included job productivity, lower levels of job burnout, job satisfaction, solving the organizational problems, organizational commitment, organizational efficiency, and effectiveness. CONCLUSION: Eight dimensions including opportunity exploration, idea generation, idea search, idea communication, idea promotion, championing, application, and overcoming obstacles were analyzed. We suggest promoting innovative behavior through leadership and management in nursing. Future research should focus on developing instruments and conducting empirical studies on innovative behavior in nursing research and practice.
Concept Formation ; Efficiency ; Efficiency, Organizational ; Job Satisfaction ; Leadership ; Methods ; Nursing Research ; Nursing* ; Publications ; Walkers

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the comprehensive technical efficiency of the tertiary public hospitals in Beijing between 2006 and 2015 and explore its influencing factors, so as to propose corresponding policy suggestions. METHODS: The data envelopment analysis was employed to evaluate the comprehensive technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency of the tertiary public hospitals in Beijing. Malmquist index model was used to analyze the changes of the above three dynamic efficiencies. Finally, randomeffect panel tobit model was utilized to analyze the influencing factors of the comprehensive technical efficiency. RESULTS: The average comprehensive technical efficiency and pure technical efficiency of the tertiary public hospitals in Beijing were relatively high, and they had respectively increased from 0.44 and 0.51 in 2006 to 0.62 and 0.68 in 2015, and the highest proportion of two kinds of efficiency values was between 0.5 and 0.8. Most of the scale efficiency values distributed between 0.8 and 1.0, and the majority of hospitals were in a state of decreasing returns to scale. The total factor productivity of hospitals had been increasing at an average rate of 5.78% per year due to the double progress of technical efficiency and technology at annual rates of 3.77% and 1.94% respectively, further decomposing technological efficiency change, and the pure technical efficiency change increased at the speed of 3.21% per year, and the annual average rate of progress in scale efficiency was only 0.53%. The comprehensive technical efficiency was positively correlated with the turnover rate of beds, annual visits per doctor, the ratio of doctors to nurses, and negatively correlated with the number of beds, the ratio of outpatients to inpatients, the proportion of medical technical personnel, and the proportion of drugs. CONCLUSION Future health policies should strictly control the scale of tertiary public hospitals, pay attention to the innovation and application of hospital technology, change the hospital internal management level and management model, promote refined management, and achieve sustainable development.
Efficiency, Organizational ; Hospitals, Public

PURPOSE: This review aimed to integrate the results of studies related to presenteeism in clinical nurses and to suggest directions for future research. METHODS: The search for relevant studies was conducted using six data bases according to predetermined index terms, “nurs*” and “presenteeism.” Thirteen studies that met the inclusion criteria were selected and analyzed. RESULTS: This review found that the conceptual use and scope of presenteeism were not consistent among the studies. Most studies investigated the nurses' health-related variables as the most important factors and reported their positive association with presenteeism. Presenteeism was also found to be associated with job stress, job satisfaction, social support, and organizational culture and had a negative impact on nursing outcomes such as patient safety. CONCLUSION: The research on presenteeism can be used as a way to explain outcomes in the field of nursing where direct measurement of productivity is difficult. Presenteeism is a multidimensional problem, and a theoretical foundation is needed to explain the presenteeism of clinical nurses.
Efficiency ; Job Satisfaction ; Nursing ; Organizational Culture ; Patient Safety ; Presenteeism*

OBJECTIVES: The environment of long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) is critical to the management of the quality of their services and to patient safety, as highlighted by international studies. However, there is a lack of evidence on this topic in South Korea. This study aimed to examine the factors affecting healthcare quality in LTCHs and to explore the effectiveness of their quality management. METHODS: This study used a mixed methods approach with quantitative data collected in a national survey and qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with practice-based managers. The samples included 725 nationally representative LTCHs in South Korea for the quantitative analysis and 15 administrators for the in-depth interviews. RESULTS: A higher installation rate of patient-safety and hygiene-related facilities and staff with longer-tenures, especially nurses, were more likely to have better healthcare quality and education for both employees and patients. CONCLUSION: The need for patient-safety- and hygiene-related facilities in LTCHs that serve older adults reflects their vulnerability to certain adverse events (e.g., infections). Consistent and skillful nursing care to improve the quality of LTCHs can be achieved by developing relevant educational programs for staff and patients, thereby strengthening the relationships between them.
Administrative Personnel ; Adult ; Delivery of Health Care* ; Education ; Efficiency, Organizational ; Humans ; Korea* ; Long-Term Care* ; Nursing Care ; Patient Safety ; Quality of Health Care

BACKGROUND: Recent advances in laboratory information systems have largely been focused on automation. However, the phlebotomy services have not been completely automated. To address this issue, we introduced an automated reception and turnaround time (TAT) management system, for the first time in Korea, whereby the patient's information is transmitted directly to the actual phlebotomy site and the TAT for each phlebotomy step can be monitored at a glance. METHODS: The GNT5 system (Energium Co., Ltd., Korea) was installed in June 2013. The automated reception and TAT management system has been in operation since February 2014. Integration of the automated reception machine with the GNT5 allowed for direct transmission of laboratory order information to the GNT5 without involving any manual reception step. We used the mean TAT from reception to actual phlebotomy as the parameter for evaluating the efficiency of our system. RESULTS: Mean TAT decreased from 5:45 min to 2:42 min after operationalization of the system. The mean number of patients in queue decreased from 2.9 to 1.0. Further, the number of cases taking more than five minutes from reception to phlebotomy, defined as the defect rate, decreased from 20.1% to 9.7%. CONCLUSIONS: The use of automated reception and TAT management system was associated with a decrease of overall TAT and an improved workflow at the phlebotomy room.
Automation, Laboratory ; Efficiency, Organizational/*standards ; Phlebotomy/*statistics & numerical data ; Republic of Korea ; Time Factors ; Workflow

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the paths of influence that a hospital's ethical climate exerts on nurses' organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior, with supervisor trust as the mediating factor, and verify compatibility of the models in hospital nurses. METHODS: The sample consisted of 374 nurses recruited from four hospitals in 3 cities in Korea. The measurements included the Ethical Climate Questionnaire, Supervisor Trust Questionnaire, Organizational Commitment Questionnaire and Organizational Citizenship Behavior Questionnaire. Ethical Climate Questionnaire consisted of 6 factors; benevolence, personal morality, company rules and procedures, laws and professional codes, self-interest and efficiency. Data were analysed using SPSS version 18.0 and AMOS version 18.0. RESULTS: Supervisor trust was explained by benevolence and self-interest (29.8%). Organizational commitment was explained by benevolence, supervisor trust, personal morality, and rules and procedures (40.4%). Organizational citizenship behavior was explained by supervisor trust, laws and codes, and benevolence (21.8%). CONCLUSION: Findings indicate that managers need to develop a positive hospital ethical climate in order to improve nurses' trust in supervisors, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior.
Beneficence ; Climate* ; Efficiency, Organizational ; Ethics ; Humans ; Jurisprudence ; Korea ; Morals ; Negotiating

PURPOSE: In this study, we determined the long-term effects of the Independent Capacity Protocol (ICP), in which the emergency department (ED) is temporarily used to stabilize patients, followed by transfer of patients to other facilities when necessary, on crowding metrics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A before and after study design was used to determine the effects of the ICP on patient outcomes in an academic, urban, tertiary care hospital. The ICP was introduced on July 1, 2007 and the before period included patients presenting to the ED from January 1, 2005 to June 31, 2007. The after period began three months after implementing the ICP from October 1, 2007 to December 31, 2010. The main outcomes were the ED length of stay (LOS) and the total hospital LOS of admitted patients. The mean number of monthly ED visits and the rate of inter-facility transfers between emergency departments were also determined. A piecewise regression analysis, according to observation time intervals, was used to determine the effect of the ICP on the outcomes. RESULTS: During the study period the number of ED visits significantly increased. The intercept for overall ED LOS after intervention from the before-period decreased from 8.51 to 7.98 hours [difference 0.52, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.04 to 1.01] (p=0.03), and the slope decreased from -0.0110 to -0.0179 hour/week (difference 0.0069, 95% CI: 0.0012 to 0.0125) (p=0.02). CONCLUSION: Implementation of the ICP was associated with a sustainable reduction in ED LOS and time to admission over a six-year period.
Aged ; *Clinical Protocols ; *Crowding ; Efficiency, Organizational ; Emergency Service, Hospital/*organization & administration/utilization ; Female ; Hospital Planning/*methods ; Hospitals, Urban/*organization & administration/utilization ; Humans ; Length of Stay/*statistics & numerical data ; Male ; Outcome and Process Assessment (Health Care) ; Patient Admission/statistics & numerical data ; Patient Transfer/statistics & numerical data ; Regression Analysis ; Time ; Time Factors ; Triage

PURPOSE: Aim of this study is to investigate the characteristics and performance of colorectal-anal specialty vs. general hospitals for South Korean inpatients with colorectal-anal diseases, and assesses the short-term designation effect of the government's specialty hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nationwide all colorectal-anal disease inpatient claims (n=292158) for 2010-2012 were used to investigate length of stay and inpatient charges for surgical and medical procedures in specialty vs. general hospitals. The patients' claim data were matched to hospital data, and multi-level linear mixed models to account for clustering of patients within hospitals were performed. RESULTS: Inpatient charges at colorectal-anal specialty hospitals were 27% greater per case and 92% greater per day than those at small general hospitals, but the average length of stay was 49% shorter. Colorectal-anal specialty hospitals had shorter length of stay and a higher inpatient charges per day for both surgical and medical procedures, but per case charges were not significantly different. A "specialty" designation effect also found that the colorectal-anal specialty hospitals may have consciously attempted to reduce their length of stay and inpatient charges. Both hospital and patient level factors had significant roles in determining length of stay and inpatient charges. CONCLUSION: Colorectal-anal specialty hospitals have shorter length of stay and higher inpatient charges per day than small general hospitals. A "specialty" designation by government influence performance and healthcare spending of hospitals as well. In order to maintain prosperous specialty hospital system, investigation into additional factors that affect performance, such as quality of care and patient satisfaction should be carried out.
Adult ; Aged ; Anus Diseases/economics/*therapy ; Colonic Diseases/economics/*therapy ; Efficiency, Organizational ; Female ; Hospital Charges/*statistics & numerical data ; Hospitals, General/organization & administration ; Hospitals, Special/organization & administration ; Humans ; Inpatients/*statistics & numerical data ; Length of Stay/economics/*statistics & numerical data ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care)/economics/methods/*statistics & numerical data ; Rectal Diseases/economics/*therapy ; Republic of Korea