Executive Summary The Michigan Clinical Research Unit (MCRU) provides clinical staff and resources to perform human clinical trial research protocols at the University of Michigan. The Administrative Director reported that an increase in demand (from 15 to 2700 visits since 2007) has led to a chaotic and inefficient model for one of their core clinical services, the Mobile Clinical Research Team (MCRU 2U). Workers within MCRU report inefficiency and high variability in the workflow process, which have resulted in unpredictability in demand, demand exceeding staff capacity, and research protocols that interrupt the daily duties of nurses and medical assistants. To address these problems, workers within MCRU 2U asked an IOE 481 student team from the University of Michigan to conduct a series of observations and analyses to help understand current workflow and recommend an improved workflow. The team was also asked to determine
Executive Summary The Michigan Clinical Research Unit (MCRU) provides clinical staff and resources to perform human clinical trial research protocols at the University of Michigan. The Administrative Director reported that an increase in demand (from 15 to 2700 visits since 2007) has led to a chaotic and inefficient model for one of their core clinical services, the Mobile Clinical Research Team (MCRU 2U). Workers within MCRU report inefficiency and high variability in the workflow process, which have resulted in unpredictability in demand, demand exceeding staff capacity, and research protocols that interrupt the daily duties of nurses and medical assistants. To address these problems, workers within MCRU 2U asked an IOE 481 student team from the University of Michigan to conduct a series of observations and analyses to help understand current workflow and recommend an improved workflow. The team was also asked to determine