Willems - IL Research Report

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NRI RESEARCH PAPER SERIES

ACADEMIC THEORY

July 2009 ~ no. 09-14

Anouk Willems BSC

INFORMATION LOGISTICS

Ing. Jan Willems MBAProf.dr.ir. Andrzej Hajdasinski

RESEARCH REPORT 2



NRI RESEARCH PAPER SERIES

INFORMATION LOGISTICSRESEARCH REPORT 2

FRAMEWORKS IN THEHEALTHCARE INDUSTRY

Anouk Willems BSC

Ing. Jan Willems MBAProf.dr.ir. Andrzej Hajdasinski

July 2009NRI Research Paper no. 09-14

ISSN 1872-3934

NRI The Nyenrode Research & Innovation Institute (NRI) is a researchassociation consisting of researchers from Nyenrode BusinessUniversiteit and Hogeschool INHOLLAND, within the domain of Management and Business Studies.

Straatweg 25, 3621 BG BreukelenP.O. Box 130, 3620 AC Breukelen

The Netherlands Tel: +31 (0) 346 - 291 696Fax: +31 (0) 346 - 291 250E-mail: [email protected]

NRI research papers can be downloaded athttp://www.nyenrode.nl/research



Abstract The goal of this research report is to further explore the concept of Information Logistics (IL), which refers to the usage and dispatch of information and methods of logistics able to supportthose processes. This report is based upon 6 questions that examine IL in organizations,healthcare organizations in particular. These questions are related to information handling withinorganizations, the required structure, information maturity levels, quality issues and context aware

situations that take the concept of IL into account. Finally, IL is compared to other managementconcepts such as Six Sigma, Lean and TQM. The following 6 questions are investigated:

1. What does the literature say about approaches to structure information and knowledge?2. How does knowledge management keep track of information and knowledge inter and

intra organizations in the healthcare industry?3. What does the literature say about the maturity of Information Logistics within

organizations?4. What does the literature say about data quality in relation to Information Logistics?5. What does research say about examples on ‘context awareness’ and how is it structured in

customer demand?

6. What is the relation between the management concepts Six Sigma, Lean, TQM and how do they relate to Information Logistics?

KeywordsInformation Logistics, Information Product, Information Element, Knowledge, InformationQuality, Context Awareness.

Address for correspondenceIng. Jan Willems MBANyenrode Business UniversiteitStraatweg 25, 3621 BG BreukelenP.O. Box 130, 3620 AC Breukelen

The Netherlands Tel. +31- (0)346 291211

NRI 09-14 Information Logistics Research report 2 – Willems, Willems and Hajdasinski

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1. What does the literature say about approaches to structure information

and knowledge?

1.1. Information and Knowledge

In order to first understand the concepts of information and knowledge in relation to one

another, both are discussed briefly. Knowledge is stored in individuals’ minds in a highly

structured form and is directly accessible. Individuals feel the need to communicate their

knowledge which needs to be transformed and made visible or audible to the outside world. This

results in information, which is what individuals seek for when they need to enrich their

knowledge. From the information receiver’s point of view, the transformation is done in reverse.

Then, information is transformed into knowledge and integrated in user’s existing knowledge

structure. Therefore, information and knowledge are interdependent. Furthermore, the universal way of obtaining information is done by means of information products (IP). An IP is a product,

print or electronic, through which information is offered for use. It represents the result of the

transformation of knowledge into information, which is made visible for the outside world

(Orna, 2005). So, an IP is an important means to structure information and knowledge.

Therefore, this subject deserves further investigation.

1.2. Information products

An IP includes information, provided in either electronic or printed form, which is sold to

external markets and used by companies’ internal customers (Meyer and Zack, 1996). The design

and architecture of such products is an approach to structure information and knowledge. The

descriptive framework presented by Meyer and Zack is illustrated in figure 1 and includes a

product platform, product family and process platform. Here the repository is central,

comprising the core information of the IP and the structure of information elements (IE).

Figure 1 – The architecture of Information Products by Meyer and Zack, 1996


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From here, firms are able to create complete product families of the IP. Furthermore, the

“manufacturing” of the IP is represented by the refinery process, which finally presents the

results to the information customer.

Author Yerbury and associates describe the design task of an IP as one of “a planned solution to

an information handling problem based on knowledge of the user, knowledge of the subject

matter and knowledge of how to present the message” (Yerbury et al., 1991). This point of view

is similar to Orna, who has observed that one needs to know users and what they do, to

understand the nature of the information they need, and to possess skills and understanding in

both the conceptual and visual organization of information (Orna, 2001). Therefore, the

customer or user of the information product should receive a central role in the IP design

process. This view conforms the principle of IL, which is also customer demand driven.Furthermore, the role of the customized customer is also included in the repository structure of

Meyer and Zack (1996), illustrated in figure 2. Here, the customer is able to create his/her own

IP by accessing the information unit inventory and selecting the elements needed. The ability to

combine such subject-oriented information elements requires a certain degree of flexibility

(Meyer and Zack, 1996).

Figure 2 – Structuring the repository to achieve electronically assisted mass customization by Meyer and Zack, 1996.


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1.3. Value from information products

According to Tiamiy (1993), the potential value of an IP depends on how well the designer of the

product is able to customize the product for a target group of users by optimally integrating the

attributes of information symbols, principles and styles for organizing information symbols,

characteristics of information media; real-time pragmatic factors and important target contextual

factors. Also, the added value depends on the removal or ability to overcome situational barriers

to user knowledge, and the actual use, of the product as a source of information by a target group

of users (Tiamiy, 1993).

Orna found a way to measure the value of IPs by using the Integrated Value Methodology

(IVM), which is designed to evaluate the value in non-financial dimensions of organizations

operations by combining monetary and intangible value. Results of IVM indicate that intangibleinputs of knowledge and information, as against monetary ones, contribute to a high overall

proportion of the cost-effectiveness value of the investment product. The interactions within the

project team developing the IP proves to be the most sensitive of all the information categories

and interactions considered. These are the most critical for achieving value (Orna, 2001). Overall,

Orna has determined eight criteria to evaluate an IP and assess its value (Orna, 2005):

1. The importance of the organizational objective to which an IP contributes, e.g.

information auditing.

2. How well an IP performs against its risks and protects the organization and its users.

3. The extent to which IM, IT and information design integrate and contribute to managing

an IP.

4. The degree to which stakeholders are able to contribute to developing an IP.

5. How well an IP matches user’s characteristics and ways they use them.

6. The extent to which an IP imposes avoidable expenditures of time, intellectual effort and

frustration on staff and outside users (which can be measured in terms of agreed cost/h

of users’ time).

7. How well an IP supports an organization managing customer relations (CRM).

8. The degree to which an IP performs in combination to one another and relates to other

products, services and processes.


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2. How does knowledge management keep track of information and

knowledge inter and intra organizations in the healthcare industry?

2.1. Knowledge management strategy

Information technology is well integrated in today’s organizations and has caused, and still

causes, many changes in the organizational structure. Many business processes need to be

redesigned to align the processes to new business environments. Now that information and

knowledge have become prominent assets in organizations, authors Sawy and Josefek (2003)

propose to use the perspective of knowledge management (KM) for business process redesign.

KM can be used to develop and enhance business processes on an ongoing basis. Namely, every

time a process is executed, the organization has the opportunity to learn and create knowledge,

for example by interacting with the customer. Then, the company is able to identify new

customer profiles and gain customer knowledge. In turn, the newly created knowledge improves

the business processes. This shows that a business process is linked with knowledge sharing and

creation and that KM can be thought of as a strategy of business process redesign (Sawy and

Josefek, 2003). As is illustrated in figure 3, the perspectives that business process redesign

changed over time depend on the degree of IT.

Figure 3 – Waves of business process redesign

2.2. Healthcare knowledge management model

In order to answer the second research question, the KM strategy needs to be applied to the

healthcare industry. In the article of Măruşter and Jorna (2005), the KM view is used to redesign

business processes within the hospital, with processes of multi-disciplinary patients in particular.

Namely, these patients require involvement of different specialties for their medical treatment,

which leads to more dynamic and complex business processes. The authors employ a knowledge


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strategy, which exists of sensory, coded and theoretical knowledge. Sensory knowledge is

experiential and is often impossible to code. Coded knowledge on the other hand contains all

types of signs or symbols such as a complete language. Finally, when a person is able to explain

relation between certain elements, he/she possesses theoretical knowledge. The strategy

comprises all three representations of knowledge in an S-C-T strategy. Three main KM activities

are incorporated:

1) Knowledge creation, where raw data is converted into coded knowledge and accordingly

used to provide theoretical knowledge about the business process.

2) Knowledge use, where theoretical knowledge is used for analyses, diagnoses and

reorganizing the business process.

3) Knowledge transfer, where theoretical knowledge is easily transferred to other people

and/or departments inter and intra organizations

Figure 4 – Petri-net by Măruşter and Jorna, 2005

The KM activities are used for modeling the hospital’s logistical processes, by means of a Petri-

net (Măruşter and Jorna, 2005). This mathematical model consists of places, transitions, directed

arcs and tokens. The arcs run between places and transitions and the point of the token (black

dot) determines the ‘state’ of the petri net (Desel and Esparza, 1995). In this case, the Petri-net

shows the logistic modeling of multi-disciplinary patients. By applying the model, the hospital can

trace information and knowledge about its patients. Results of the research propose to create new

multidisciplinary units in which different specialties coordinate the treatment of specific groups

of patients. However, the authors mention difficulties when transferring knowledge. Sensory

knowledge, the behavioral activities of doctors and nurses, is difficult to convert to coded and

theoretical knowledge. More specific, the authors discuss the difficulty to transform all of the

medical behavior (sensory) into these structures (coded and theoretical). This is where the

authors’ point of view contradicts the aforementioned defined terms of Orna. That is, she

reasons that knowledge is stored in individuals’ minds in a highly structured form and is directly

accessible. However, when knowledge is communicated, it first needs to be transformed and


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made visible of audible to the outside world which results in information (Orna, 2005). The

differences between authors Măruşter & Jorna and Orna lie in their definitions of information

and knowledge. More specific, what Măruşter & Jorna call sensory knowledge, Orna would refer

to as internal knowledge. As soon as this knowledge becomes coded and structured for the

outside world, Orna no longer refers to knowledge but to information in stead. Though the

authors share different views, the question remains what point of view is more preferable used in

logistics and business in general.

2.3. Electronic Patient Dossier

Along the article, Măruşter & Jorna further discuss the difficulty of knowledge transfers. They

mention an example of a system that enables easy transferability of knowledge and that

incorporates coded and theoretical knowledge structures, which is the Electronic Patient Dossier(Măruşter and Jorna, 2005). In the Netherlands, the Electronic Patient Dossier (EPD) will be

introduced in 2009 and is expected to be operative in 2010. This EPD is part of the European

healthcare project epSOS, which includes 12 participating countries. The EPD incorporates the

illnesses, treatments, pharmaceutics and the medical histories of patients and can be used to

improve the logistic hospital processes. Health institutions have access to patients’ files when

patients have given permission, the inspection is necessary and a relation has been established

between both parties. The advantages gained from the EPD are lower chances for medical errors,

transparency in medicine usage, ease of switching between specialists without long introductions

on past treatments and up-to-date information for your own doctor. Although the EPD is said to

have many advantages, the disadvantages should also be noticed. The system already received a

lot of negative publicity concerning its privacy issues. According to experts, hacking the dossier is

not difficult. This was already proven in the US, where a similar system was hacked and caused

privacy losses and extortion (NRC Handelsblad, 2008). So far, the ministry of health received

438.000 complaints on the introduction of the EPD (Telegraaf, 2009). Though the purpose of

the EPD is to make information of patients easier to trace and transfer, the privacy issues remain

unsolved.

2.4. Google Health

Information giant Google can not be left unnoticed in this matter and launched ‘Google Health’

in 2008. This new service enables users to built online health profiles, import medical records

from hospitals and pharmacies and learn about health issues and find helpful resources. People

can search online for doctors and hospitals and connect to online health services. This serviceresolves some key problems in being able to integrate and share health data from multiple


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sources. The downside however, is that the user is being asked to make choices which doctors

would be best but are unable to because of legal issues. Also, Google Health has to be careful

that users do confuse the information with medical advice.

3. What does the literature say about the maturity of Information Logistics

within organizations?

3.1. Organizational maturity

Maturity in organizations describes the degree to which an organization is fully-developed or

perfected in its operations. So far, various multistage models on organizational maturity have

been proposed. The most commonly used maturity model in business is the 5 stage Capability

Maturity Model (CMM). This model helps to set process improvement objectives and priorities,

and provides guidance for ensuring stable, capable, and mature processes. The maturity level of

an organization provides a way to predict the future performance of an organization. The model

can be used in a continuous or staged representation, where continuous refers to process areas

while staged representations components are maturity levels (CMMI product team, 2002).

3.2. Maturity model applied to Information Logistics

The purpose of the maturity model is to provide guidance for improving organization’s processesand its ability to manage the development, acquisition, and maintenance of products or services

(CMMI product team, 2002). IL can play a key role in achieving this goal. Namely, the value

proposition of IL is to deliver the right information product, in the right format, at the right

place, at the right time for the right people in a customer demand driven way. When

organizations apply this principle, it will enable them to improve and optimize their business

processes (Willems, 2008). Furthermore, the customer demand driven approach increases

knowledge worker’s productivity and enforces them to work more independently and mature.

This gives reason to believe that the concept of organizational maturity is linked to the principle

of IL. The link between these concepts is stressed in figure 5. This illustrates five types of

organizations that change from hierarchical (fragmented pyramid) to flat and dynamic

organizations (virtual network). The concept of IL is more present on the right side

organizations. Also, as the organizations develop from left to right, the degree of maturity

increases as well while the information latency decreases. As such, mature organizations are

better able to manage the acquisition, maintenance and development of information assets which

increases the information chain excellence. However, most organizations do not find themselves


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in the condition they strive for, which is referred to as a gap. The technology gap for example,

where an organization experiences it deals with multiple legacy systems while it strives for an

information architecture that is integrated, connected and widely accessible. The ‘as-is’ condition

differs from its ‘should-be’ condition, causing a gap. Though these five organizations are clearly

defined and separated, it must be said that these are model organizations that may not appear in

real life. However, it gives organizations insight in the level of organizational maturity of their

information chain.

Figure 5 – Information Chain Maturity Model by Willems 2009

3.3. Examples from the governmental and healthcare industry

When discussing the maturity within organizations, it is interesting to look into governmental and

healthcare organizations. The governmental operations can be modeled according to the maturity

model. In the article of Gottschalk, the level of maturity in governmental organizations is linked

to interoperability. This term refers to the ability of government organizations to share

information and integrate information and business processes by use of common standards and

work practices. In his exploratory research, Gottschalk identified five levels: (1) computer

interoperability, (2) process interoperability, (3) knowledge interoperability, (4) value

interoperability, and (5) goal interoperability respectively. These stages recognize the importance

of a central role of the client and its information needs. Overall, more mature governmentalorganizations in terms of their work process, knowledge sharing, value creation, and strategy


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alignment, will rape expected benefits (Gottschalk, 2009), though in most governments not yet

achieved.

In the hospitals, organizational systems have not reached the optimal maturity either. Today, new

technologies are being introduced at an increasing rate, and many of these innovations have the

potential to interact synergistically if they can be integrated effectively. However, the current

healthcare information exchange is not as efficient and error free. The paper-based and

fragmented information systems force organizations to rely on outdated IT. At the same time,

healthcare costs are rising significantly. A promising strategy for reversing this trend is to

modernize the healthcare information exchange, that is, the mobilization of healthcare

information electronically across organizations within a region or community (Eckman et al.,

2007). The aforementioned privacy concerns limit the free flow of information within the

healthcare industry. Systems handle private data about individuals, relationships, groups, and

organizations. Due to these limitations, maturity can only be optimized to a certain extent and

needs to take these privacy concerns into account (Gottschalk, 2009).

4. What does the literature say about data quality in relation to Information

Logistics?

4.1. Data quality in the healthcare industry The role of information in creating a competitive advantage is key for healthcare’s business

strategy. However, information alone does not create knowledge or a competitive advantage.

Quality is necessary for information to be useful and in order to create that competitive

advantage. The meaning of data quality is, among others, related to the age of information,

measured by timeliness, accuracy and accessibility. Data quality is also related to the service of

information, measured by focus and responses on user needs. Furthermore, data quality refers to

the state of completeness, validity and consistency which makes data appropriate. Decisions can

only be as good as the data and its quality on which they are made. The consequences of low

quality data can be enormous. For example, in the healthcare industry, many organizations have

legacy systems, where every line of business has its own patient database and the information is

hardly ever shared across business lines. This creates an environment that grows poor data

quality, which leads to an incomplete view of the patient in the healthcare organization.

The article by Alshawi, Missi and Eldabi (2003) proposes a framework to assist the healthcare

organizations in supporting their CRM tools with high quality and integrated patient data. The


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first phase of this framework is the data collection from both internal and external sources,

illustrated in figure 6. Here, several processes are used to assess the quality like accuracy,

completeness, consistency, relatability, consistency, timeliness, uniqueness and validity. Then, the

second level of the framework concerns data quality matching and comparison, where data is

coupled or completed with existing data. The third level is the data integration process and the

final fourth level comprises data quality final checks (Alshawi et al., 2003).

Figure 6 – Patient data collection phase to assess data quality by Alshawi et al. (2003)

4.2. Information quality

While the previously mentioned article discusses the quality of data, the term information quality

is left unsaid. According to Ballou et al. (1998), the term information quality is used for the final

product that is delivered to the customer while they use data quality for intermediate data

products, which still needs additional processing. This distinction resembles the structure of IPs

and IEs discussed in chapter 1, without explicitly mentioning the term IE. Ballou continues withdiscussing four attributes of an IP, which are timeliness, data quality, cost and value. As such,

data quality is an important element of the IP (Ballou et al., 1998).

A certain degree of information quality conveys organizational maturity. This is argued by data

quality expert Larry P. English. Organizations can find themselves in different stages of the

information management maturity model, shown in table 1. From stage 3 ‘Enlightment’ on,

organizations have a relatively mature information quality environment. So, in order to have a

high quality IP, the organization must have a mature information environment (English, 2004).


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Table 1 – The Information Quality Management Maturity Grid by English (2004).

English introduced the Total Information Quality Management perspective, which is a quality

management system that focuses on business effectiveness and customer satisfaction. It consists

of 6 processes, where five are discrete processes of measurement and improvement and the

remaining process is an umbrella process. Figure 7 illustrates these processes of the TIQM.

Process (P) 1 assesses the data definition and information architecture quality. This process meets

the requirements of the knowledge workers and understands the meaning of information they

require. P2 assesses information quality by meeting various quality characteristics such as

accuracy, completeness and consistency. P3 measures non-quality information costs and risks of

process failures as to make a business case for Information Quality Management. P4 Reengineers

and corrects data, which is conducted along with P5. This fifth process improves information

process quality by means of the Shewhart Cycle PDCA, or Plan-Do-Check-Act. Finally, the last

process establishes the information quality environment (English, 2004).


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Figure 7 – The six processes of the Total Information Quality Management by English (2004)

5. What does research say about examples on ‘context awareness’ and how is

it structured in customer demand?

5.1. Information Demand

In the article of Levashova, Lundqvist, Sandkuhl and Smirnov (2006), situation and context

awareness is researched and linked to information demand (ID). They reason that context-based

decision support aims at providing information for problem solving while IL focuses on demand-

oriented information supply in general, i.e. only relevant information should be provided to the

users. Relevance in this context is based on such aspects as time, location, organizational role, or

work activities. Development of methods, tools and techniques for the analysis of ID is the core

of the ID based approach to information logistics. The approach to context-based decision

support aims at modeling the user’s problem and solving it (Levashova et al., 2006).

In the article of Lundqvist (2007), ID and context are also discussed and displayed in an

enterprise model. Both articles refer to ID in stead of customer demand. ID is described as the

constantly changing need for current, accurate, and integrated information to support (business)

activities, when ever and where ever it is needed (Lundqvist, 2007). The context of ID is the

formalized representation of information about the setting in which IDs exist and comprises the

organizational role of the party having the demand, work activities related, and any resources and

informal information exchange channels available, to that role. The ID context is made up by

relevant contacts, activities, role and available resources. The model is illustrated in figure 8

(Levashova et al, 2006).


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Figure 8 – Information Demand Dimensions by Levashova et al. (2006)

5.2. Information logistics examples

Lundqvist discusses two examples of IL applications that incorporate ID and ID context. The

first application is WIND, Weather Information on Demand, which is an early warning system

that provides information on potential dangerous weather events (Deiters et al, 2003). The

second application is Smart-Wear®, a wearable information broker to be used by journalists at

sporting events (Deiters et al, 2003a). Two other examples will be explained more carefully, per

industry.

5.2.1. Example in the office environment

Another article that includes an example of an IL application is from the dissertation of Haseloff,

which is a context-aware portal system named Knowledge eXchange System. This system takes

the current context of users into account and offers them corresponding relevant information.

The system is implemented in an office environment. Office workers have a multitude of

different information systems at their disposal and access them by means of complex user

interfaces. The dividing line between work and spare time has become blurred which is reflected

in modern forms of work such as teleworking or flexible working hours. Office workers

furthermore are expected to be extremely flexible because many of them work in varying teams,

are frequently assigned to different projects or tasks which are making different demands on their

skills, or are in charge of varying customers.

The KXS is an intranet tool of two large German insurance companies and the Fraunhofer ISST.

Integrating various data sources in a portal is not sufficient, because a portal alone is not capable


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of assessing, selecting, and timely supplying exactly those pieces of information users need in

given situations. Therefore, the portal includes a context-aware information logistic application

that allows for a uniform access to different information sources and at the same time provides

users with information that is particularly relevant in their current context. The context is

gathered through three sensors. The first sensor is a RFID-based indoor location sensor installed

in a few rooms of the Fraunhofer ISST. The second context sensor employed consists of the

electronic schedules of users that are stored in a Microsoft Exchange Server and accessed by

users through Microsoft Outlook client applications. Finally, the third sensor is the KXS itself

which provides information concerning the reachability of users in terms of the computers on

which users are logged on to the portal. Furthermore, the system includes a Context Editor

which enables users to specify the context that they may be in. Then, the application derives IDs

from the context attributes values users have specified and transforms them into appropriatesearch queries that can be made to the KXS.

Overall, the benefit of this IL context awareness example is that users are automatically supplied

with information that is relevant to them, which enables them to focus on their actual tasks. The

information supply is personalized and results in an accurate ID. Furthermore, the information

supply is unobtrusive and does not interrupt user’s current activities (Haselhoff, 2005).

5.2.2. Example in the healthcare environment

Information logistical applications are also applied to the healthcare industry. The next example

promotes the concept of Smart Patient. This scenario is thought to support patients before,

during and after a medical treatment and concentrates on the area of chronic diseases and long

time care. Here, a healthcare centre offers an information logistical web-based portal, as an

additional service and part of the patient relationship management (PRM). This portal gathers

various information sources which are edited and displayed consistently. Different databases,

experts’ columns, forums and other online sources are used and integrated. Then, the

information is filtered according to the patients’ profiles. Patients can choose a profile according

to their personal situation (diagnosis, planned treatment, condition, knowledge, medication,

experiences). The interface adapts to the patient’s profile and only shows information that fits the

profile. The portal automatically checks new information and sends notifications about

interesting news through various channels. Patients can be assisted regardless of their actual

location as the infrastructure may be amplified by using mobile or even wearable devices (e.g. a

PDA) in combination with wireless technologies (Wireless LAN or UMTS). To realize this, agood and trustful relationship between technology and patient has to be established.


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The patient career of this information logistical application is illustrated in figure 9 (Heuwinkel

and Deiters, 2003).

Figure 9 – Smart Patient design by Heuwinkel and Deiters (2003)

Another article that focused on context awareness in the healthcare industry is by Broens et al.,

(2007) which discusses M-Health applications, without explicitly mentioning the term IL. Projects

that are discussed are MobiHealth, X-motion and MyHeart and all acknowledge the concept of

context awareness (Broens et al., 2007). For example, MobiHealth is a project that is run in

different European countries in different departments. Here, the patient wears a lightweight

monitoring system – the MobiHealth BAN (Body Area Network) – which is customized to their

individual health needs. Physical measurements such as blood pressure or ECG are measured by

the MobiHealth BAN and transmitted wirelessly from the BAN to their doctor, the hospital or

their health call centre. Therefore, a patient who requires monitoring for short or long periods of

time does not have to stay in the hospital for monitoring.


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6. What is the relation between Six Sigma, Lean, TQM and how do they

relate to Information Logistics?

It can be argued whether IL is viewed as a business strategy, management philosophy or just a

helpful tool. In order to find out its meaning, IL is compared to different quality management

concepts like Six sigma, Lean and Total Quality Management.

6.1. Comparison between different quality management concepts

• Total Quality Management (TQM) can be defined as a continuously evolving

management system consisting of values, methodologies and tools, the aim of which is to

increase external and internal customer satisfaction with a reduced amount of resources

(Hellsten and Klefsjo, 2000).

• Six Sigma is defined as a business process that allows companies to drastically improve

their bottom line by designing and monitoring everyday business activities in ways that

minimize waste and resources, while increasing customer satisfaction by some of its

proponents (Magnusson et al., 2003).

• Lean is defined as a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste through

continuous improvement, flowing the product at the pull of the customer in pursuit of

perfection (NIST, 2000).

• Information Logistics is described as managing and controlling information handling

processes optimally with respect to time, distribution and presentation in such a way that

it contributes maximally to company results in harmony with the costs of capturing. The

right information will be obtained towards delivery in time for the right environment and

results in an improvement for the people involved (Willems, 2007).

The definitions of the first three quality management concepts differ, though the aim of the

concepts seems to be similar. At the bottom line, all concepts aim for improvements in order to

minimize waste and resources while improving customer satisfaction and financial results

(Andersson et al, 2006). The differences between these concepts are further explained in table 2.

The main point that Andersson, Eriksson and Torstensson stress is that Six Sigma and Lean are

clear roadmaps that can be used as a methodology within the larger framework of TQM.


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Table 2 – Similarities and differences between TQM, Six Sigma and Lean by Andersson et al, 2006

Previous quality management concepts focus on minimizing waste and optimizing customer

satisfaction and financial results. This is similar to the point of view of IL, that focuses on

minimizing knowledge worker’s effort (e.g. waste) in searching for the right IP, consisting of the

right mix of IE’s to meet customer’s information demand (e.g. satisfaction). While IL can also be

seen as another form of quality management, it differs from the previous concepts by its focus

on organizational information assets. However, this focus might offer the larger framework of

TQM yet another roadmap. Though IL can offer business a good management perspective, lack

of practical experience makes it yet impossible to analyze it with respect to the other management

concepts and requires further research.


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References

Alshawi, S., Missi, F. and Eldabi, T., “Healthcare Information Management: The Integration of Patient’s Data”,

Logistics Information Management, 2003, vol. 16, Number 3/4, pp. 286-295.

Andersson, E., Eriksson, H. and Torstensson, H., “Similarities and differences between TQM, six sigma and lean”,

The TQM Magazine, 2006, Vol. 18 No. 3.

Ballou, D., Wang, R., Pazer, H. and Tayi, G.K., “Modeling Information Manufacturing Systems to Determine

Information Product Quality”, Management Science, 1998, Vol. 44, No. 4.

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