A teoria das restrições aplicada à análise de processos de alta complexidade: um estudo de caso em um hospital de emergência de Belo Horizonte

Abstract

The Theory of Constraints (TOC) proposes that the maximum capacity of a system does not equal the sum of its parts capacities, but rather its constraints capacity. Thus, the performance of any system depends upon the way the constraint is explored to generate throughput for theorganization. TOC is proposed by many authors as a complete and general management tool whose applicability is not limited to production and operations management or thc costing method proposed by Goldratt and Cox (2002) and further explored by other authors such asCorbett (2005). The current research was designed in order to make a qualitative assessment of TOCs adequacy in analyzing a high complexity process, so as to explore this theorys limits. The selected object of study for this research was the Burns Unit in Joao XXIII Hospital in BeloHorizonte/MG. An analysis ofthe productive resources involved in the provision of health care services to burn patients of the hospital, the capacities of its resources and the constraint identification was carried out. The results ofthe research indicate that the constraint to the systemare the hospital ward beds in the Burns Unit and some solutions and possibilities were proposed for this scarce resources use optimization. The main conclusion of this research is that, just as TOC can provide a proper analysis of a company overall, it can also provide managers andcompany decidcrs with valuable insights when used to carry out process(es) analysis. Besides, this research also evidences the vital role of relevant management information as a critical success factor for the implementation of a TOCbased management model in the Burns Unit of Joao XXIII Hospital.