Premium Essay

Shouldice Hospital Case Study

In:

Submitted By caz13
Words 1513
Pages 7
Case 1: Shouldice Hospital Limited

Q1: How does shouldice compete? In other words why do patients come to shouldice hospital?

Two main reasons drive customers into choosing Shouldice over other competitors/hospitals. The first is quality, and the other is cost. talking about quality of the Shouldice “product” includes both, quality of the operation, and quality of post operation activities and overall services offered by Shouldice.
The Shouldice method is a focused, specified operation that deals with Hernias, with a reputation that has been built throughout the years and is still growing; the hospital doesn’t even use advertisement to attract patients, the “word of mouth” way of advertisement has been doing very well for them so far. The superior quality offered by the Shouldice method, gives the patients a motive to operate at Shouldice for what it gives regarding peace of mind, low risk and low recurrence rates.
Away from the in-operation excellence in quality, the services that Shouldice hospital offers are more tempting than other hospitals. Patients do not feel that they are in a hospital; they consider it more like a recovery vacation with an excused absence from work without feeling any guilt in that. Moreover, it gives patients the independence and sense of control and preserves patients’ dignity when it comes to the fast recovery after the operation, and when it comes to the fast ambulation process after the operation, where a patient rises up and walks by himself (definitely under supervised assistance by nurses), and makes him feel in control of his motion and in control of the sedative applied on him which has no effect other than ignoring the pain of the 45 minutes procedure.
The financial part of this comparison holds the other big part in the decision taken by a patient to go to Shouldice. Taking into consideration the lower cost of the

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Shouldice Hospital Case Study

...INTRODUCTION The Shouldice Hospital, located in Thornhil, Ontario is considered a global leader in hernia repair and recovery. The Shouldice Hospital was established in 1945 by Dr. Edward Earle Shouldice. Major Dr. Edward Earl Shouldice saw many men denied enlistment into the army because they were deemed physically unfit to serve due to the need of hernia surgery. Dr. Shouldice developed an innovative technique to repair hernias during this World War II era and has been known in the medical world for his superior methods ever since. Shouldice created a method that included factors such as a local anesthetic, the abnormal nature of the surgical procedure itself, encouraging movement following the surgery, and many other postoperative methods used by his team. Using these factors, Dr. Shouldice developed a surgical technique for repairing hernias that were superior and much more efficient than other methodologies. SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths Very efficient process Specialized Expertise Culture, atmosphere unlike hospitals Reliable and high quality service Competitive Pricing Minimal overhead Capacity utilization Customer satisfaction Quick recovery time for patient Weaknesses Narrow product line Inability to market due to inability to keep up with potential demand Location (Decrease in demand during winter months) Number of locations Age of some key personnel Opportunities New locations, Possible location in United States Create new market segments...

Words: 2168 - Pages: 9

Free Essay

Shouldice Hospital Case Study

...1. How successful is Shouldice? Shouldice is successful in a technical sense with its combination of low recurrence rate, low cost and short recovery time. According to www.webmd.com an inguinal hernia repair, which is the primary procedure Shouldice Hospital performs, has an average recurrence rate of 1% to 10%. The recurrence rate for hernia repairs performed at Shouldice is less than 0.5%. The average recovery time for this procedure is 1to 2 weeks for light activity and up to 4 weeks for full recovery. Shouldice patients often walk to the wheelchair from the operating table, are participating in light exercise the same day, and are back to work within 8 to 10 days. Costs for this procedure at other facilities range from $2,000 to $4,000 while Shouldice is able to perform it for under $1,000. Shouldice is also successful in providing a positive experience with nearly 80% of patients being swayed by a positive review from friends and family. 2. How does Shouldice maximize perceived customer value? Shouldice maximizes perceived customer value by providing services of quality higher than the market at a cost lower than the market in an environment that has the feel of a country club rather than a hospital. They have succeeded in instilling such camaraderie in their former patients that tickets to an annual alumni convention sell out every year. Shouldice has succeeded in wrapping their medical care within a social experience usually restricted to vacations. ...

Words: 909 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Case Study of Shouldice Hospital

... CASE DY STUOF SHOULDICE HOSPITAL 2ND JUNE 2014 INTRODUCTION The Shouldice Hospital, located in Thornhil, Ontario is considered a global leader in hernia repair and recovery. The Shouldice Hospital was established in 1945 by Dr. Edward Earle Shouldice.   Major Dr. Edward Earl Shouldice saw many men denied enlistment into the army because they were deemed physically unfit to serve due to the need of hernia surgery.   Dr. Shouldice developed an innovative technique to repair hernias during this World War II era and has been known in the medical world for his superior methods ever since.   Shouldice created a method that included factors such as a local anesthetic, the abnormal nature of the surgical procedure itself, encouraging movement following the surgery, and many other postoperative methods used by his team. Using these factors, Dr. Shouldice developed a surgical technique for repairing hernias that were superior and much more efficient than other methodologies. HISTORY Dr. Edward Earle Shouldice graduated from the University of Toronto in 1916. During World War II, he was called to serve on the Medical Examining Board. Dr. Shouldice, a major in the army, found that many young men willing to serve their country had to be denied enlistment. These men needed surgical treatment to repair their hernias before they could be pronounced physically fit for military training. In 1940, hospital space and doctors...

Words: 458 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Shoulder Spice

...Shouldice Hospital Limited Group Project: Summer 2012 Operations Management BUSI-411 D02 Ashley Edwards, Yvette Dennis, Andrew Evans, and Rachel Gillespie Respectfully submitted to Dr. Raja Selladurai Liberty University 8/13/12 Facility The facility of Shouldice Hospital took many years to design and was designed to help aid in the recovery of the patients (Hesket, 2005). Everything was designed around helping the patient to be comfortable, yet encourage movement and socializing of the patients. The design encourages postoperative ambulation, which Shouldice believed aided in recovery (Bendavid, 2003). The building is also efficient in its housekeeping and cafeteria services to help minimize costs. The facility is located in one building that has three floors, with the two lower floors opening out to ground level (Hesket, 2005). This design minimized the need for steps, which can cause discomfort for those who just had surgery. The top two floors contained open lounge areas which creates an environment for socializing. The Florida room is an all glass window room that allows plenty of sunlight to come through, allowing a view of the 130 acre estate. According to Franklin (2012), gazing at scenery such as a gardens or mountains can help speed healing from surgery. The recreational area contains pool tables and exercise equipment. These activities require movement. Shouldice believed that movement and socializing would speed up recovery of patients (Bendavid...

Words: 3946 - Pages: 16

Free Essay

Proposing a Carpal Tunnel Treatment Centre

...RESEARCH Proposing a carpal tunnel treatment centre: The Shouldice model revisited Hazim Sadideen, Faddy Sadideen ABSTRACT The Shouldice Hospital prides itself with excellent hernia repair outcomes. The Shouldice concept exhibits a unique, successful business model, and is a clear example of the concept of a highly innovative value proposition. Exploring Shouldice's fundamental principles and extrapolating them to other settings might help healthcare professionals offer improvements to patient care. Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common elective hand disorder, which can be debilitating for patients. Surgical intervention is extremely effective when necessary. It would be prudent to develop efficient pathways for the treatment of CTS, and other common disorders in the future. This review aims to explore the successes behind the Shouldice model, cross-fertilise surgical and management grounds by familiarising surgeons with the Shouldice model to help generate key ideas for the future, and extrapolate key information to postulate the 'carpal tunnel treatment centre' as a potential enterprise that can be designed on the basis of the Shouldice model. Optimal healthcare delivery while improving the patient journey, in a cost-effective manner, requires careful planning and execution. It is important to further explore and capitalise on this knowledge, to improve our service to patients and the multidisciplinary healthcare workforce, particularly in light of restructuring...

Words: 5298 - Pages: 22

Premium Essay

Media Report

...1. Shouldice can be thought of as being successful but this is dependent on how one defines it. Some indicators of success are seen through their high employee satisfaction, low turnover rate, hours of operation, and great scheduling and availability of doctors. Aside from this, another major indicator is the increase in demand for the facility in such high volumes. There is a waiting list for nurses while most hospitals are understaffed meaning that it is also attractive for employees and patients alike. Patient satisfaction is also very high and in some cases some patients did not even want to leave because of their experience at Shouldice, “They share experiences with other patients, make friends easily, and have the run of the hospital”. Lastly, the fact that they have avenues for expansion and economic growth denotes that they are on a successful path forward because the opportunities to build more facilities, add a weekend schedule, and charge higher prices would not present itself otherwise. 2. Shouldice maximizes perceived customer value through a few different elements. One of the main ways they do this is through their presentation and format for patients. The procedures are done by highly experienced surgeons in a very specific manner, it is seen that procedures are in turn shorter and they also allow for a free post-op check-up later on at the patients request. Aside from this, the patient is emerged into a specific and comfortable lifestyle which really enforces...

Words: 919 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

The Shouldice Method

...The Shouldice Method Abstract Dr. Earle Shouldice and his method of hernia operations and recovery methods are discussed. The discussion includes techniques pioneered by Dr. Shouldice, and the founding and operation of a facility bearing his name and utilizing his methods. Keywords: Earle Shouldice, Shouldice Hospital, Shouldice Method, hernia The Shouldice Method The Shouldice Hospital Limited case consists of the story of an Ontario farm boy who grew up to significantly impact the lives of thousands of hernia patients. Dr. Earle Shouldice grew up to become a prominent lecturer at the University of Toronto, ran a private medical and surgical practice, and was a successful researcher (Heskett, 2003, p. 1). He performed an appendectomy in 1932 on a seven year old girl who remained active post surgery. This led to his interest in early ambulation. Years later, Dr. Shouldice began taking a deeper look at the actions of post operative patients. Remembering the case of the seven year old girl, the doctor allowed wash room privileges to four men immediately following their surgeries (Heskett, 2003, p. 1). Ultimately, this led to Dr. Shouldice opening his own hospital facility which eventually consisted of an 89 bed capacity where he performed hernia correcting surgery using local anesthetic, encouraging comfortable movement and a specially designed post operative regimen (Heskett, 2003, p. 2). Shouldice Hospital treated only external hernias which were generally repairable...

Words: 3358 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Shouldice

...Summary: Shouldice hospital is a specialized hospital for the treatment of external abdominal hernias in Canada. The hospital was established by Dr. Shouldice the founder of a new and superior surgical technique, now known as the Shouldice method, which yields better medical results as well as a significantly shorter recovery time. Shouldice is operating at its best level of 6850 operations in the year 1982. Over the years the capacity of the hospital is increased from 36 beds to 89 beds. Backlog of scheduled operations of 1200 is a cause of concern even always. Options of Saturday working, increasing an additional floor or new facilities at USA are worked out rigorously and recommended to work on Saturdays (only in peak periods). Total Number of words used : 120 Situation Analysis: Shouldice is a private hospital founded by Dr. Earle Shouldice in Toronto in July 1945. The hospital started out as a six-room nursing home in downtown Toronto. Shouldice offers a new technique to cure the hernia, which is the protrusion of an organ through a weakness in the abdominal wall; this technique was invented by the founder during the World War II. This technique allows the patient to go back to their routine very quickly. Just after four hours of operation patients are encouraged to start walking around the place and feel more comfortable. The typical recurrence rate for the hernia approaches 10%, the gross recurrence rate for all operations performed at Shouldice was only...

Words: 1833 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

Shouldice Case Study

...Case Study 2: Shouldice Hospital Kenneth Snell, David Drummond 1. How successful is the Shouldice Hospital? a. Perform a comparison of the cost to patients at Shouldice vs other Hospitals The cost to a patient at Shouldice is based on an average 3.5 day stay: ($320.00/day x 3.5 days) = $1120.00 $650.00 surgical fee $300 anesthesia fee (20% of the patients) = 300 x .2 = $60.00 Average cost to patient is $1120.00 + $650.00 + $60.00 = $1830.00 Average charge for operations performed at other facilities: $5,240.00 b. Perform an analysis of the profitability of the operation at Shouldice. Include Return on Investment (7,600 patients/year) x $1120.00/patient = $13,908.00 annually Operating budget for the clinic: $3.5M Operating budget for the hospital: $8.5M Estimated annual net income: $13.9M - $12M = $1.908M *Net income is the numerator for any return calculation, and typically shareholder’s equity and total assets would be in the denominator. Since insufficient data was given to estimate total INVESTED CAPITAL in this business, ROI cannot be effectively calculated. c. How is all this achieved? How do you account for this performance? The keys to financial success for the hospital is that Shouldice manages its expenses to reduce overhead costs through allowing patients to be active participants in the service delivery process, reducing...

Words: 2308 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Shouldice Case Study

...ldi Case Study 1: Shouldice Hospital Limited 1. What has the leadership of Shouldice been excellent at? Shouldice leadership has been able to develop one of its surgical service lines, inguinal hernia repair, to an “internationally-recognized” brand. This has allowed Shouldice to dominate the market share and create a demand for its specialized services resulting in financial stability. The creation of this brand also has a strong influence with how the organization functions and how it is perceived. Levey (n.d.) reveals why branding creates organizational value. Levey expresses that “from a marketing or consumer perspective, it is the promise and delivery of an experience.” Shouldice leadership has also created an organizational culture that provides employees a sense of purpose, motivation, and opportunity to enhance their skills. Levey (n.d.) adds that a “brand is the greatest asset for uniting employees around a singular culture and mission.” 1. What has the leadership of Shouldice been excellent at? Shouldice leadership has been able to develop one of its surgical service lines, inguinal hernia repair, to an “internationally-recognized” brand. This has allowed Shouldice to dominate the market share and create a demand for its specialized services resulting in financial stability. The creation of this brand also has a strong influence with how the organization functions and how it is perceived. Levey (n.d.) reveals why branding creates organizational...

Words: 385 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Introductions to Operations Management

...Improvement, we study tools and cases that allow us to analyze, improve and design internal firm activities. In the second part, Supply Chain Management, we turn our attention to entities external to the firm and examine the activities of sourcing raw materials and delivering goods to consumers. The components are detailed below: Part I: Business Process Analysis and Improvement. We begin our study of business processes by first playing the “Lego” game. Through this exercise, we will have an overview of a simple assembly line as well as the fundamental concepts in process management, such as capacity, bottleneck, etc. Then, we study how to analyze the operational process using the case “Kristen´s Cookie Company” and further evaluate the financial value of operational improvement. In the following sessions, we will introduce Toyota production system as well as it implication in service context. We will also study the tools of quality management. We finally study the operations strategy and the product-process matrix using “Shouldice” case. Part II: Supply Chain Management: In this part, we turn our attention to the interfaces between an organization and its external environment, more specifically, to the management of relationships with partners and customers. We begin with the newsvendor model, a key tool which helps capture the trade-offs in matching supply with demand. Then, we study the coordination among supply chain partners using the case “Bose”. We will...

Words: 2514 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Registerd Nurse

...Healing Hospital: A Daring Paradigm Healing Hospital: A Daring Paradigm When I think of care giving I think of support, compassion, and making a positive difference in the health and lives of individuals. My philosophy of care giving involves passion for patient care. What I mean by passion for patient care is being passionate about providing high-quality, accessible, value-driven care that encompasses the whole person from body, mind, and spirit, as well as being committed to meeting the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of all patients. My philosophy seems to go hand and hand with the paradigms of a Healing Hospital. According to Chapman (2007), the Healing Hospital is a concept that more than anything else, supports culture of caring. Therefore, love is the center of healing. I will further discuss the paradigm of the Healing Hospital, consider the ramifications and challenges of the paradigm, and evaluate the reasonableness of the paradigm. A healing hospital is built on the ancient tradition that love is at the center of healing. The Healing Hospital represents a vision of true excellence built on the most important principle of human existence- loving one another (Chapman, 2007, p. 10-11). Their concept is supporting a strong culture of caring for their patients and caregivers. Healing Hospitals use the three symbols of loving services which are: a Golden Thread that symbols faith in god to represent positive tradition of healing, a pair of intersecting circles...

Words: 451 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Operation and Chain of Supply

...TermPaperWarehouse.com - Free Term Papers, Essays and Research Documents The Research Paper Factory JoinSearchBrowseSaved Papers Home Page » Business and Management Operations and Supply Chain Case Studies In: Business and Management Operations and Supply Chain Case Studies Operations and Supply Chain Case Studies In today’s environment of global shopping where the demand for products is as wide as the number of firms offering them, orders can be placed in advance or at a moment’s notice from across the globe. The question of the manufacturer or reseller is how to best manage production across the supply chain. This paper will have two parts to it; part one will review the case study of the Realco Breadmaster. It will provide analysis on the current supply chain management and will make recommendations for a more strategic approach. Part two will focus on a case study for Toyota. This case will focus on quality and the Lean philosophy. First, it is important to provide some foundation support of what operations and supply chain management entail. Every firm or organization must make a product or provide a service to someone that is needed or valued. Operations are the collection of people, technology, and systems that are in a firm whose primary responsibility is to provide the company’s products or services (Bozarth & Handfield, 2008). “Supply chain is the network of manufacturers and service providers that convert and move good from...

Words: 526 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Wolf Keller

...Professional Services Fall 2007 I. POSITIONING AND ALIGNMENT a) Developing and Implementing Strategy: Wachtell Lipton Wachtell Why has Wachtell been so successful? - Niche o M&A, hostile takeovers o General counsels, CEOs come to Wachtell when they have a problem - Size: small o 1 office (140 attorneys in 1995, 193 today); organic growth (no mergers/acquisition of other firms & only 2 lateral partners in entire history) o Benefits = control over quality of work; quality of recruits; sense of collegiality; maintenance of position in niche (if it stays significantly smaller than the market for its services, no matter how bad business gets, it will always have enough work); avoids inefficiencies of partnership model b/c decisions made quickly w/ little process - Bills o Based on value, not time o Wachtell does not pursue bills aggressively – they call twice, and that’s it. Clients can literally stiff the firm… only consequence is that it will never take you on as a client again and it will tell all its other clients that you didn’t pay. ▪ Wachtell’s realization rate ~90% (vs. ~80% at other firms) - Clients o By matter, not long-term relationships ▪ Gives the firm independence from clients – fewer conflicts o Can pick & choose interesting, innovative, and high-paying work o Doing only transactional work expands the market because no conflicts o Business...

Words: 11144 - Pages: 45

Premium Essay

Timbuk

...Walkthrough Major Study and Learning Features The following section highlights the key features developed to provide you with the best overall text available. We hope these features give you maximum support to learn, understand, and apply operations concepts. C STRAEPYTANDR 2 H AT G E SUSTA Chapter Opener INABILITY Learning Obj LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5 LO6 ectives Understand the parameters of a sustainable opera Understand the tions and supply competitive dim chain strategy. ensions of opera Identify order tions and supply winners and or chain strategy. der qualifiers. See how strategy is implemented through operatio Introduce the co ns and supply ch ncepts of risk as ain activities. sessment and mi Show how prod tigation. uctivity is me asured and ho supply chain pr w it relates to ocesses. operations and Chapter Outlin e 25 Mi ssi on St at em en ts wi th As pir at ion s be yo nd Ma 26 A Su sta ina kin g a Pr of it ble Op er at ion s an d Su pp ly Ch ain St rat eg y 28 W ha t Is Op er at ion s an d Su pp ly Ch ain Competitive Dim St rat eg y? ensions The Notion of Trade-Offs Order Winners and Order Qualifi ers: The Marketing–O perations Link Operations and Sustainability defi ned Triple bottom line defined supply chain str ategy defined Operations eff ectiveness defi ned Straddling defi ned Order winner defi ned Order qualifier defined e Ris k As so cia system maps defi ned te d wi th Op er at ion s an d Framework Su pp ly Ch ain St rat eg ies 37 Pr od uc tiv ity Supply chain risk...

Words: 3267 - Pages: 14