A Process Design for Rare Diseases Patients in Turkey

Abstract

This paper is conducted to establish a better pathway for rare disease patients and doctors especially in Turkey. Through the project, contacts made with numerous rare disease patients, geneticists who expertise in this field, academicians, students of medicine department, and many more. After collection and evaluation of the raw data, the analysis is made to implement it for real life improvement scenarios. The analysis technique of this project was value stream mapping, which is broadly used to find the bottlenecks and slacks in the healthcare sector. Afterwards, final suggestions are explained on the last section. To conclude, the patient flow analysis for rare disease patients and especially the detailed flow for cystic fibrosis patients presented that a comprehensive strategy should be designed and plans should be made for rare diseases case in Turkey. This project was the first step for this mission, and also, the first project focusing on the rare diseases field from an engineering perspective.