Industrial Engineering (IE) courses are taught in Binus ASO School of Engineering (BASE), as IE constitutes major portion as well in Product Design Engineering (PDE) Program in BASE. With the spirit of fostering and empowering society, this IE courses are contributing toward society, in particular in healthcare.

Source: ISE Magazine 2019 (Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) 2019)

Author: Peter Woodbridge

Peter Woodbridge, M.D., is the chief health information officer and the chief of the innoovations, reliability, informatics and improvement service at the New Mexico VA Health Care System. He is a IISE member.

Increasing Industrial Engineers in Healthcare

In 2005, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) published “Building a Better Delivery System: A New Engineering/Health Care Partnership. ” In it, engineering and clinical healthcare improvement leaders made a compelling argument for applying systems engineering tools to improve healthcare quality and efficiency. In response, we expected a rush of industrial engineers seeking careers in healthcare. That flood did not occur.

In 2016, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that approximately 300 IEs were employed in healthcare in the U.S. In a recent poll of Veterans Health Administration systems improvement specialists, we found that only 12 of 122 respondents (9.8%) had an undergraduate or advanced degree in IE. The remainder have other backgrounds such as nursing or health administration. Why are so few IEs seeking careers in healthcare? It may be supply. While the pool of IEs is large, the demand is even larger. The BLS estimates that 257,900 IEs were employed in the U.S. in 2016. Non-healthcare demand is growing. The bureau estimates that demand for IEs will grow by 10% by 2026 – well above the rate for engineering as a whole. It does not seem to be because of pay. Online recruiting companies indicate the average salaries for health systems engineers are well above those for IEs overall. It may be brand confusion.

Most IEs in healthcare function as lean Six Sigma black belts and project managers, which are not unique IE skills. Business schools, professional organizations and corporations provide training and certification.

To differentiate themselves, IEs need to demonstrate value in data analysis, statistical quality control, cost analysis and reduction, simulation and feasibility studies, scheduling and queuing analysis, space planning, and human factors and cognitive engineering.

The challenge lies in obtaining positions that permit IEs to demonstrate value other than as black belts and project managers. It might be skills mismatch. Not all IEs have the skills to negotiate the social complexity of healthcare organizations.

Nicole Hutchison and colleagues identify six domains of systems engineering effectiveness: 1) math, science and general engineering proficiency; 2) systems domain and operational context; 3) systems engineering discipline; 4) systems engineering mindset; 5) interpersonal skills; and 6) technical leadership. We find that tailored education in health systems as well as strengths in the engineering mindset, interpersonal communication and technical leadership are vital.

To address gaps in domain specific knowledge, engineering schools must offer more electives in health systems and healthcare organizations must offer more internships. It may be publishing in the wrong places. The U.S. National Library of Medicine PubMed database, with more than 29 million citations, is the primary source of healthcare information. “Industrial engineering” and “systems engineering” do not appear in its indexing system. Using the free text searches, “industrial engineering” and “patient safety” yielded 79 citations; “industrial engineering” and “patient flow” yielded 13; and “industrial engineering” and “statistical process control” and “patient care” yielded seven. These numbers are in sharp contrast to the engineering literature. It is no wonder that the medical community remains largely oblivious to industrial engineering.

IEs must publish more articles in healthcare safety and quality journals. And, finally, if all else fails, we might encourage more IEs to become physicians. Contrary to common belief, majoring in biology or pre-med does not increase the likelihood of acceptance to medical school. There appears to be a positive bias for individuals with technical degrees. 