Independent Service Providers Research Articles

Participant experiences during the NHS Low Calorie Diet Programme pilot. Findings from an online survey

Background: In 2020, NHS England commissioned independent commercial service providers to deliver a Low Calorie Diet Programme pilot, offering Total Diet Replacement alongside behavioural support. Methods: This paper presents participant experiences of the programme using both quantitative and qualitative data derived from four cross-sectional surveys, and examines differences by sociodemographics, delivery model and provider. Results: The majority of participants reported a positive experience with the referral process, with a small proportion feeling that insufficient information was provided and that they did not feel respected or listened to by their healthcare professional. Participants’ relationship with their coach was generally positive throughout each phase of the programme, and highlights the importance of coach-participant relationships. The relationship with the coach via digital delivery was less favourable compared to other delivery models, as was the perceived adequacy of support provided. Conclusions: The experience of the referral from general practice and the relationship with the coach are key elements of the participant experience. They demonstrate the importance of, and need for, person-centred care.

Service accessibility strategy for aircraft maintenance routing with interorganizational collaborations on outsourcing maintenance

Airline companies are increasingly outsourcing their fleets’ heavy maintenance to independent maintenance service providers. This paper investigates the aircraft maintenance routing problem (AMRP) under the Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) outsourcing mode. Considering interorganizational maintenance implementation, an airline company’s accessibility to maintenance service is affected by the varying maintenance capabilities of the maintenance service provider, which depends on heterogenous maintenance resource availability (e.g., the accommodation capacity of maintenance hangars and the availability of maintenance technicians and aviation spare parts). To enhance the airline’s service accessibility to maintenance service, we propose an efficient maintenance planning strategy with a collaborative mechanism based on service information sharing and service capability evaluation from the airline’s perspective. Afterward, a time-complexity reduction approach is presented to enhance the discrete-time-stamp-indexed mathematical model formulation. The efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed approach were evaluated through various problem scenarios, based on the operational data from a regional airline. Managerial implications regarding maintenance strategy and the accuracy of maintenance capability evaluation are also discussed.

IRepair or I Repair? A Dialectical Process Analysis of Control Enactment in the iPhone Repair Aftermarket

We study how Apple and independent repair service providers used different physical, regulatory, and digital instruments to influence each other’s abilities to control the repair aftermarket of the Apple iPhone between 2007 and 2020. We show how the emergence of digital instruments for enacting control, made possible through emerging functionality for tethering, encryption, and temporary binding implemented in the iPhone itself, was shaped by and shaped the actions of Apple and the independent repair service providers, and led to a dominant tension between encrypted authorization and inscription of control through Apple and collective legal action by independent repair service providers. Our analysis provides a more nuanced understanding of control enactment by highlighting the implications of using different mediums for exercising control, and we provide a new way to understand the dialectics involved in enacting control in digital product aftermarkets. Our study provides insights that can inform the regulation of digital product aftermarkets—in particular, the ongoing debate about rights-to-repair legislation.

Tinjauan Kewenangan Ombudsman Republik Indonesia Dalam Penyelesaian Laporan Masyarakat

In carrying out the task of completing community reports, the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia is not only known for providing recommendations but also the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia has the final product of completing the report, namely the Final Report of the Examination Results. Therefore, this study aims to: explain the legal review of the Final Report of the Examination Results as part of the series of examinations of community reports that have a relationship with providing recommendations if corrective actions in the Final Report of the Examination Results are not implemented by the Public Service Provider in the findings of mal-administration. The method used in this study is the normative juridical method. The results showed that the Final Report of the Examination Results is a whole series of processes for receiving and verifying reports with formal and material requirements which will then be followed up in the examination process, the product of the Ombudsman's supervision service is the Final Report of the Examination Results. So the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia does not just provide recommendations, because of the position of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia as a state institution that exerts influence in a persuasive approach in handling community reports related to mal-administration. One of the main concerns of this study is that the Final Report on the Results of the Examination has not been included in the Ombudsman Law of the Republic of Indonesia so that hierarchically the power of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia is in the recommendations. However, the existence of the Final Report of the Examination Results as an effort by the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia to encourage the improvement and improvement of public services at the encouragement of independent public service providers

Truthful online double auctions for on-demand integrated ride-sourcing platforms

Integrated platforms are an emerging model of business that integrates ride-sourcing services provided by multiple companies on a single platform. It reduces market fragmentation and brings benefits to both travelers and participating independent transport service providers. To ensure the sustainability of such platforms, the main challenge lies in efficient matching between travelers and ride-sourcing companies, so that both sides obtain non-negative utility. In this study, we propose a double auction based framework to solve the matching and pricing problems for on-demand integrated ride-sourcing platforms. To solve the real-time matching problem, we develop two online mechanisms with a critical price dynamic updating algorithm and a greedy algorithm. The proposed mechanisms are guaranteed to achieve the desired economic properties, and their efficiency is evaluated through numerical studies.

Early stakeholder modeling and analysis: New mobility services (Product Service Systems of Systems)

AbstractDeveloping new mobility services such as electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles services requires not only the interaction and interoperation of independent systems such as electric vehicles, electric infrastructure, or off‐board servers, but also the collaboration of independent business partners, namely, car manufacturers, energy providers, and service providers, developing, managing and operating these systems. Such services show both Product Service Systems and Systems of Systems characteristics and, as such, can be defined as Product‐Service Systems of Systems. While extensive literature exists on developing and managing PSS product and service elements and SoS constituent systems, little research explicitly focuses on PSSoS stakeholders. In particular, the analysis of PSSoS stakeholder business partnerships and involvement in PSSoS development. PSSoS development is seen as the development, operation, and management of constituent systems. This paper contributes to addressing this gap and proposes an approach to manage stakeholder participation in the PSSoS business partnership and PSSoS development.

Non-discriminatory operating policies for ridesharing platforms with dual capacities

Many ridesharing platforms operate with dual capacities. They employ full-timers, in addition to independent service providers (also known as self-schedulers). Unlike self-schedulers, full-timers work exclusively for a platform and have limited flexibility. While allocating demand between the two capacities, a platform could prioritize its own full-timers over self-schedulers (preferential policy). This preferential treatment is considered discriminatory and, hence, illegal, even though it may maximize profits. Ridesharing platforms, therefore, have to explore alternative operating policies to overcome this legal hurdle. This study is a step towards helping platform managers identify the best alternative (or at the least the second-best alternative) to the controversial preferential policy. It explores two alternative non-discriminatory policies—contingency capacity policy (self-schedulers get higher priority in demand allocation) and common-pool policy (equal preference to the two capacities). A major finding of this study is that the contingency capacity policy, the most altruistic among the three policies, can deliver optimal profits for asset-light platforms (platforms with fewer full-timers). Managers of asset-light platforms could leverage the altruistic nature of the contingency capacity policy to attract more self-schedulers to join the platform and derive a significant competitive advantage.

How to Support Diverse Libraries in a National Network?

Abstract SLSP Ltd. (Swiss Library Service Platform) was founded in 2017 by 15 Higher education institutions and libraries of Switzerland with the mission of consolidating the data sets of the six existing library consortia in Switzerland into a national platform, operating a centrally managed library system and offering centrally managed services for libraries. With the successful go-live of swisscovery in December 2020, SLSP started its business operations as an independent library service provider for Switzerland’s academic libraries. Today, the national platform swisscovery references the information of 495 academic libraries in Switzerland and provides easy access through a single user interface. Starting from the assumptions used in the design of a national network of this size and variety, we look back on two years of operation of swisscovery, focusing especially on developments in customer support for the libraries.

Interoperability Benefits and Challenges in Smart City Services: Blockchain as a Solution

The widespread usage of smart devices with various city-centric services speeds up and improves civic life, in contrast to growing privacy and security concerns. Security issues are exacerbated when e-government service providers trade their services within a centralised framework. Due to security concerns, city-centric centralised services are being converted to blockchain-based systems, which is a very time-consuming and challenging process. The interoperability of these blockchain-based systems is also more challenging due to protocol variances, an excessive amount of local transactions that raise scalability and rapidly occupy memory. In this paper, we have proposed a framework for interoperability across various blockchain-based smart city services. It also summarises how independent service providers might continue self-service choices (i.e., local transactions) without overloading the blockchain network and other organisations. A simulated interoperability network is used to show the network’s effectiveness. The experimental outcomes show the scalability and memory optimization of the blockchain network.

Enabling independent flexibility service providers to participate in electricity markets: A legal analysis of the Belgium case

Ambitious renewables targets of the EU call for creating a flexible electricity system accommodating and facilitating the integration of large-scale intermittent renewable electricity. To further exploit the considerable potential of demand flexibility, final customers need to be fully mobilised to offer their flexibility to electricity markets. The independent flexibility service provider (IFSP) operates independently from the electricity supplier and has a separate balance responsible party (BRP), which plays a key role to that end. However, in activating demand flexibility, suppliers and BRPs are affected and thus likely to impose barriers or restrictions on market entry of IFSPs. This analysis utilizes legal-empirical research to closely examine how to promote broader market participation of IFSPs by regulating their relationships with affected suppliers and BRPs. In doing so, the Belgian regulatory framework is used as a case study. This article further analyses the remaining regulatory gaps and challenges of the Belgian framework.

Gender of Profession: The Nurse and The Medical Practitioner at the Tokyo Imperial University Hospital.

This article explores the shaping of gender hierarchy between the nurse and the doctor in modern Japan, through the lens of the Tokyo Imperial University Hospital. I understand gender hierarchy of these two medical professions not just in terms of ranks in hospital bureaucracies, salaries, or educational credentials, but also the ways their work was defined, their skill levels were evaluated, as well as the probability of their united actions as members of a single profession to advocate their shared interests. Tokyo Imperial University is Japan's oldest university, which is the birthplace of modern medical education. The hospital of this university was a symbolic locus for the making of gender hierarchy of the doctor and the nurse, which often transpired in other institutions and articulated in state regulations such as the Nurse Regulations prepared by Home Ministry officials in 1915. In this hospital, doctors who were male, while designing nursing education and labor practices, defined nursing primarily as women's supplementary labor for doctors. While doctors had an exclusive professional territory, such as diagnosis, surgery, and medication, what nurses' exclusive professional territory was undefined and how their skill levels could be evaluated remained unclear. In other words, probationary nurses often worked together with trained nurses, which allowed managers of the hospital to exploit their cheap labor, as well as attenuating the professional authority of the trained nurses. But, this process did not go unchallenged. Leaders of nurses at this hospital, such as Suzuki Masa and Ōzeki Chika did not think that nurses should be subordinated to the doctor. As managers of the Tokyo Imperial University Hospital hired unmarried women to have them endure intense labor with low wages, Ōzeki publicly protested a doctor at Tokyo Imperial University to improve nurses' working environment, and these two soon resigned. After the resignation, Suzuki organized a visiting nurse service company called The Charity Visiting Nurse Corps (jizen kangofukai), and dispatched a group of its member nurses to the clients. Unlike when they worked in the Tokyo Imperial University Hospital, they became an independent service provider, deciding their work schedules, and the fees for their service for themselves. Compared to their wages in the Tokyo Imperial University Hospital, the service fees were two to three times higher in this new company. As nurses came to claim a high pay, visiting nurse service companies of this kind blossomed in Tokyo and other big cities, However, they eventually failed to gain a clear legal definition of what nurses could exclusively do as professionals and how their skills were assessed, and private nurses lost their high demand during the Great Depression. By looking at this process, this article reconfirms the conventional wisdom that the gender hierarchy of doctors and nurses were not biologically given but socially constructed through the interplay of education, employment, state policies, and the market, and considers why nurses' efforts alone could not challenge the entirety of this hierarchy, without institional supports from the state.

DAAC: Digital Asset Access Control in a Unified Blockchain Based E-Health System

The use of the Internet of Things and modern technologies has boosted the expansion of e-health solutions significantly and allowed access to better health services and remote monitoring of patients. Every service provider usually implements its information system to manage and access patient data for its unique purpose. Hence, the interoperability among independent e-health service providers is still a major challenge. From the structure of stored data to its large volume, the design of each such big data system varies, hence the cooperation among different e-health systems is almost impossible. In addition to this, the security and privacy of patient information is a challenging task. Building a unified solution for all creates significant business and economic issues. In this article, we present a solution to migrate existing e-health systems to a unified Blockchain-based model, where access to large scale medical data of patients can be achieved seamlessly by any service provider. A core blockchain network connects individual & independent e-health systems without requiring them to modify their internal processes. Access to patient data in the form of digital assets stored in off-chain storage is controlled through patient-centric channels and policy transactions. Through emulation, we show that the proposed solution can interconnect different e-health systems efficiently.

How is the NHS Low-Calorie Diet Programme expected to produce behavioural change to support diabetes remission: An examination of underpinning theory.

In 2020, the National Health Service Low-Calorie Diet Programme (NHS-LCD) was launched, piloting a total diet (TDR) replacement intervention with behaviour change support for people living with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) and excess weight. Four independent service providers were commissioned to design and deliver theoretically grounded programmes in localities across England. 1) to develop a logic model detailing how the NHS-LCD programme is expected to produce changes in health behaviour, and (2) to analyse and evaluate the use of behaviour change theory in providers' NHS-LCD Programme designs. A documentary review was conducted. Information was extracted from the NHS-LCD service specification documents on how the programme expected to produce outcomes. The Theory Coding Scheme (TCS) was used to analyse theory use in providers' programme design documents. The NHS-LCD logic model included techniques aimed at enhancing positive outcome expectations of programme participation and beliefs about social approval of behaviour change, to facilitate programme uptake and behaviour change intentions. This was followed by techniques aimed at shaping knowledge and enhancing the ability of participants to self-regulate their health behaviours, alongside a supportive social environment and person-centred approach.Application and type of behaviour change theory within service providers' programme designs varied. One provider explicitly linked theory to programme content; two providers linked 63% and 70% of intervention techniques to theory; and there was limited underpinning theory identified in the programme design documents for one of the providers. The nature and extent of theory use underpinning the NHS-LCD varied greatly amongst service providers, with some but not all intervention techniques explicitly linked to theory. How this relates to outcomes across providers should be evaluated. It is recommended that explicit theory use in programme design and evidence of its implementation becomes a requirement of future NHS commissioning processes.

The design of an evaluation framework for diabetes self-management education and support programs delivered nationally

BackgroundThe aim of this work was to develop a National Evaluation Framework to facilitate the standardization of delivery, quality, reporting, and evaluation of diabetes education and support programs delivered throughout Australia through the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS). The NDSS is funded by the Australian Government, and provides access to diabetes information, education, support, and subsidized product across diverse settings in each state and territory of Australia through seven independent service-providers. This article reports the approach undertaken to develop the Framework.MethodsA participatory approach was undertaken, focused on adopting nationally consistent outcomes and indicators, nominating objectives and measurement tools, specifying evaluation processes, and developing quality standards. Existing programs were classified based on related, overarching indicators enabling the adoption of a tiered system of evaluation.ResultsTwo outcomes (i.e., improved clinical, reduced cost) and four indicators (i.e., improved knowledge and understanding, self-management, self-determination, psychosocial adjustment) were adopted from the Eigenmann and Colagiuri national consensus position statement for diabetes education. This allowed for the identification of objectives (i.e., improved empowerment, reduced distress, autonomy supportive program delivery, consumer satisfaction) and related measurement instruments. Programs were categorized as comprehensive, topic-specific, or basic education, with comprehensive programs allocated to receive the highest-level of evaluation. Eight quality standards were developed, with existing programs tested against those standards. Based on the results of testing, two comprehensive (OzDAFNE for people with type 1 diabetes, DESMOND for people with type 2 diabetes), and eight topic-specific (CarbSmart, ShopSmart, MonitorSmart, FootSmart, MedSmart, Living with Insulin, Insulin Pump Workshop, Ready Set Go – Let’s Move) structured diabetes self-management education and support programs were nominated for national delivery.ConclusionsThe National Evaluation Framework has facilitated consistency of program quality, delivery, and evaluation of programs delivered by multiple service providers across diverse contexts. The Framework could be applied by other service providers who facilitate multiple diabetes education and support programs and could be adapted for use in other chronic disease populations where education and support are indicated.

Correlations between the outsourcing activity that can be caried out by credit institutions and the protection of personal data

In the operation of credit institutions, the legal institution of outsourcing is becoming increasingly important. In the framework of this, credit institutions perform some of their activities for financial reasons, economies of scale, or for other reasons, such as their need for access to new technologies, not independently within their own organizational framework, but with the assistance of an external service provider.2 In order to comply with prudential requirements, credit institutions shall meet a number of legal and supervisory criteria even if they wish to use the assistance of a third party for any of their activities. However, if the governing regulatory regulations are not in compliance with each other, even just in terms of concepts, it may cause a practical problem for credit institutions, which may unreasonably reduce the efficiency of their activities. Among its interpretative provisions, Act CCXXXVII of 2013 on Credit Institutions and Financial Enterprises (hereinafter referred to as Hpt.) defines the term of outsourcing: ‘outsourcing’ shall mean an arrangement where a financial institution enters into an agreement with a functionally independent service provider, by which that service provider performs continuously or regularly the activities related to its financial services or financial auxiliary services or as prescribed by law, involving the management, processing and storage of data, which would otherwise be undertaken by the financial institution itself.” [Point 58 of Section 6 (1) of Hpt.]. However, in relation to the interpretation of certain factual elements included in the definition of outsourcing, a question may arise as to which legislation is applicable to define the terms „data management, data processing, data storage”? Can data protection laws be used as background legislation for this? If the effective data protection laws are taken into account, does the legislator clearly define the concept of the Credit Institutions Act for practitioners in accordance with such laws, as well? I will examine these questions in more detail below.

Incentives for Shared Services: Multiserver Queueing Systems with Priorities

Problem definition: We study shared service whereby multiple independent service providers collaborate by pooling their resources into a shared service center (SSC). The SSC deploys an optimal priority scheduling policy for their customers collectively by accounting for their individual waiting costs and service-level requirements. We model the SSC as a multiclass [Formula: see text] queueing system subject to service-level constraints. Academic/practical relevance: Shared services are increasingly popular among firms for saving operational costs and improving service quality. One key issue in fostering collaboration is the allocation of costs among different firms. Methodology: To incentivize collaboration, we investigate cost allocation rules for the SSC by applying concepts from cooperative game theory. Results: To empower our analysis, we show that a cooperative game with polymatroid optimization can be analyzed via simple auxiliary games. By exploiting the polymatroidal structures of the multiclass queueing systems, we show when the games possess a core allocation. We explore the extent to which our results remain valid for some general cases. Managerial implications: We provide operational insights and guidelines on how to allocate costs for the SSC under the multiserver queueing context with priorities.

Incentives for Shared Services: Multi-Server Queueing Systems with Priorities

Problem definition: We study shared service whereby multiple independent service providers collaborate by pooling their resources into a shared service center (SSC). The SSC deploys an optimal priority scheduling policy for their customers collectively by accounting for their individual waiting costs and service level requirements. We model the SSC as a multi-class M/M/c queueing system subject to service level constraints. Academic/Practical relevance: Shared services are increasingly popular among firms for saving operational costs and improving service quality. One key issue in fostering collaboration is the allocation of costs among different firms. Methodology: To incentivize collaboration, we investigate cost allocation rules for the SSC by applying concepts from cooperative game theory. Results: To empower our analysis, we show that a cooperative game with polymatroid optimization can be analyzed via simple auxiliary games. By exploiting the polymatroidal structures of the multiclass queueing systems, we show when the games possess a core allocation. We explore the extent to which our results remain valid for some general cases. Managerial implications: We provide operational insights and guidelines on how to allocate costs for SSC under the multi-server queueing context with priorities.

Coordinating Demand and Supply for Crowd Logistics Platforms with Network Effect

The crowd logistics platforms connect stochastic demand with uncertain delivery supply which is provided by independent service providers. Considering direct-network effects and cross-network effects between the demand and supply side, a dynamic surge pricing model for crowd logistics platforms is built. The pricing strategy is derived to coordinate the supply with demand to equilibrium. Furthermore, the pricing strategy minimizing cumulative delivery orders is analyzed. The numerical simulation results show that the dynamic surge pricing strategies can stimulate the uncertain delivery supply for maximizing platforms’ revenue. And, direct-network effects pose a positive impact on the dynamic surge pricing strategy. In contrast, the cross-network effects have a negative impact on the pricing strategy. However, direct-network effects and cross-network effects negatively influence platforms’ revenue.

A brief report on rapid access to medication assisted treatment

ABSTRACT This report describes Rapid Access to Medication Assisted Therapy (RAM), an innovative, cross-system intervention, piloted in Central Vermont to address the opioid overdose epidemic, building on emergency department buprenorphine induction, and a Hub and Spoke delivery system. RAM utilizes transdisciplinary case coordination to facilitate integration among independent service providers and peer supports addressing the opioid overdose crisis in a rural area. Adopting a transdisciplinary process to guide interprofessional collaboration, RAM team members share professional duties across institutional and professional hierarchies and traditional roles. These shifts in professional orientation increase team capacity to provide care coordination and remove barriers to treatment. While care coordination traditionally rests in the social work domain, RAM distributes these tasks among members of each profession. RAM exemplifies the strength of transdisciplinary collaboration and highlights the leadership role social work can play in implementing systems navigation and care coordination.

SLSP and swisscovery – a Swiss success story on how to create a multilingual, national library network

Abstract With the ’go live’ of swisscovery, Swiss libraries have taken a big step into the future. Combining the migration of six local data sets with the creation of a national network and the independent library service provider SLSP (Swiss Library Service Platform) within a single project was a bold goal that was reached on 7 December 2020. Looking back on the three years of implementation (2018–2020), which followed the conception phase of 2015–2017, we identify and discuss the key success factors, hurdles that were faced, and challenges still to be met. While some of these elements are found on the technical level, others refer to business and management aspects. Indeed, such projects are always a combination of technological, economical, and human factors.