Operational Efficiency of an Immunization Clinic Attached to Rural Health Training Centre in Delhi, India: A Time and Motion Study

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Abstract

Background. Obtaining baseline data about current patterns of work is important for assessing the effects of interventions designed to improve care delivery. Time and motion studies allow for the most accurate measurement of structured components. Therefore, the present study was conducted to study the operational efficiency of an immunization clinic in Delhi, India. Methods. An observational cross-sectional study was conducted at the immunization clinic of Rural Health Training Centre in Delhi, India, from January 2014 to March 2014. The study composed two stage evaluations, a passive observation and a time and motion study. Systemic random sampling method was used to select 863 mothers/caregivers attending the immunization clinic. Results. At the immunization clinic, the study participants spent 64.1% of their total time in waiting. For new cases, the mean time taken for initial registration and receiving postvaccination advice was found to be significantly longer than old cases. Delivering health care services took more time during Mondays and also during the first hour of the day. Conclusion. Results of this study will guide public health decision-makers at all government levels in planning and implementation of immunization programs in developing countries.

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Most cited references 7

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A comparison of work-sampling and time-and-motion techniques for studies in health services research.

S Finkler, Erik Thompson, James R Knickman … (1993)

This study compares results and illustrates trade-offs between work-sampling and time-and-motion methodologies. Data are from time-and-motion measurements of a sample of medical residents in two large urban hospitals. The study contrasts the precision of work-sampling and time-and-motion techniques using data actually collected using the time-and-motion approach. That data set was used to generate a simulated set of work-sampling data points. Trained observers followed residents during their 24-hour day and recorded the start and end time of each activity performed by the resident. The activities were coded and then grouped into ten major categories. Work-sampling data were derived from the raw time-and-motion data for hourly, half-hourly, and quarter-hourly observations. The actual time spent on different tasks as assessed by the time-and-motion analysis differed from the percent of time projected by work-sampling. The work-sampling results differed by 20 percent or more of the estimated value for eight of the ten activities. As expected, the standard deviation decreases as work-sampling observations become more frequent. Findings indicate that the work-sampling approach, as commonly employed, may not provide an acceptably precise approximation of the result that would be obtained by time-and-motion observations.

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Implementation science: how to jump‐start infection prevention.

Elizabeth Howell, Sarah L Krein, Sanjay Saint (2010)

Implementing evidence‐based infection prevention practices is challenging. Implementation science, which is the study of methods promoting the uptake of evidence into practice, addresses the gap between theory and practice. Just as healthcare epidemiology has emerged as a paradigm for patient safety, infection prevention may serve as a clinical model for implementation researchers.

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A Time Motion Study in the Immunization Clinic of a Tertiary Care Hospital of Kolkata, West Bengal

Amitabha Chattopadhyay, Ritu Ghosh, Sucharita Maji … (2012)

Background: A time and motion study is used to determine the amount of time required for a specific activity, work function, or mechanical process. Few such studies have been reported in the outpatient department of institutions, and such studies based exclusively on immunization clinic of an institute is a rarity. Materials and Methods: This was an observational cross sectional study done in the immunization clinic of R.G. Kar Medical College, Kolkata, over a period of 1 month (September 2010). The study population included mother/caregivers attending the immunization clinics with their children. The total sample was 482. Pre-synchronized stopwatches were used to record service delivery time at the different activity points. Results: Median time was the same for both initial registration table and nutrition and health education table (120 seconds), but the vaccination and post vaccination advice table took the highest percentage of overall time (46.3%). Maximum time spent on the vaccination and post vaccination advice table was on Monday (538.1 s) and nutritional assessment and health assessment table took maximum time on Friday (217.1 s). Time taken in the first half of immunization session was more in most of the tables. Conclusion: The goal for achieving universal immunization against vaccine-preventable diseases requires multifaceted collated response from many stakeholders. Efficient functioning of immunization clinics is therefore required to achieve the prescribed goals. This study aims to initiate an effort to study the utilization of time at a certain health care unit with the invitation of much more in depth analysis in future.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Adv Prev Med

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Adv Prev Med

Journal ID (publisher-id): APM

Title: Advances in Preventive Medicine

Publisher: Hindawi Publishing Corporation

ISSN (Print): 2090-3480

ISSN (Electronic): 2090-3499

Publication date (Print): 2014

Publication date (Electronic): 6 November 2014

Volume: 2014

Electronic Location Identifier: 671963

Affiliations

Department of Community Medicine, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi 110029, India

Author notes

*Varun Kumar: drvarunkumar17@ 123456gmail.com

Academic Editor: Katrin S. Kohl

Article

DOI: 10.1155/2014/671963

PMC ID: 4241324

SO-VID: 868b32e3-afcb-49ae-9ee0-2d7429099fd4

License:

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.