Total Work Effort Research Articles

SAMEE – the nonlinear adaptive method for predicting work effort of information systems development

At the early stage of information system analysis and design one of the challenge is to estimate total work effort needed, when only small number of analysis artifacts is available. As a solution we propose new method called SAMEE – Simple Adaptive Method for Effort Estimation. It is based on the idea of polynomial regression and uses selected UML artifacts like use cases, actors, domain classes and references between them. In this paper we describe implementation of this method in Enterprise Architect CASE tool and show simple example how to use it in real information system analysis.

妊娠中の労働による健康影響と心理的ストレス

Modern society demands working conditions in which pregnant women can successfully deliver children and maintain a professional position. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of work on the health and psychological stress in working women and their newborns. We reviewed twenty-eight publications and found that health problems in working women occur at high rates. However, there is no report investigating the mechanism by which health problems occur, or describing the precise working conditions and symptoms in pregnant women who are engaged in work outside the home. In addition, the literature uses subjective evaluations, including psychological tests, to quantify stress and anxiety, but no biochemical analyses of stress-related substances were conducted. We suggest that a standard index to represent working conditions and job category, as well as an investigation of the workload of house-keeping, is needed to understand the total work effort by pregnant women in modern times. Finally, measurement of stress-related biological markers may be effective in the investigation from various perspectives of occupational stress in pregnant women.

Physician work effort and reimbursement for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms

Two major flaws have been previously identified in the resource-based relative value scale (RBRVS): (1) inaccurate estimation of physician work effort; and (2) RBRVS compression, which results in undervaluation of major surgical procedures. The impact of RBRVS for physicians treating patients with ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (RAAAs) has not been previously reported and is important owing to the severity of the illness, the potential to quantitate actual work effort, and the high percentage of these patients covered by Medicare. All patients were studied who underwent surgery for RAAAs during a 5-year period encompassing the implementation of RBRVS. Analysis included all physician services including vascular surgeons, anesthesiologists, and all other medical specialists. Total work effort was quantitated for each specialty in minutes/patient. The financial data were obtained by reviewing all professional bills and reimbursements. Cost of service was calculated to include physician compensation, practice overhead costs, and malpractice expenses. In all, 84 patients underwent repair of a RAAA with a mortality rate of 42%. Medicare was the primary insurance for 87% of patients. The cost of service exceeded the reimbursement by 50% for vascular surgeons, resulting in an average loss of $1,593/patient. Actual operative time represented only 24% of total surgical work effort. Early death and a length of stay (LOS) < or = 1 day for 24 patients resulted in a reimbursement rate of $5.98/minute for surgeons. This gain was significantly offset by 30 patients with a LOS > or = 14 days, resulting in a reimbursement rate of $1.94/minute for vascular surgeons. Over the 5-year period there was a trend of decreasing reimbursement for vascular surgeons (P <0.005) but not other physicians. Vascular surgeons incurred a 28% decrease in reimbursement over the study period. Physician reimbursement under RBRVS for the treatment of patients with RAAAs is inadequate to cover the costs of providing this care. Reimbursement trends and potential changes to the practice component of the RBRVS will further aggravate the losses involved in caring for these very ill patients. Vascular surgeons must continue to provide input to the Health Care Financing Administration to help correct inequities built into RBRVS.

Physician burnout in pediatric critical care medicine.

To determine the prevalence of, and factors associated with, burnout among pediatric intensivists across a variety of practice settings. A population-based survey, using a mailed questionnaire that included a previously validated Burnout Scale. Private and academic pediatric critical care practices. Respondents from among all members of the Pediatric Section of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and all physicians certified in pediatric critical care medicine by the American Board of Pediatrics. The questionnaire consisted of demographic items, variables noted in the literature as being associated with burnout (e.g., the individual's perception of how others valued their work, and the use of preventive measures such as regular exercise to relieve stress), and a validated Burnout Scale. The questionnaire also included questions pertaining to past training, practice of other primary specialties or subspecialties, practice settings, admission responsibilities, actual and preferred practice activities, total work effort, academic activities, and causes of stress at work. The Burnout Scale of Pines and Aronson is a self-diagnosis instrument, consisting of 21 questions using a 7-point frequency scale. The total Burnout Score represents an average of the scores for the individual components. Scores of < or = 3 in our study were classified as "not burned out." Scores of > 3 and < or = 4 were classified as "at risk." Scores of > 4 were classified as "burned out." A total of 883 questionnaires were mailed; 474 (56%) were respondent returns and 35 questionnaires could not be delivered. Primary analyses focused on the 389 respondent attending physicians presently practicing pediatric critical care medicine at the time of the survey. The average Burnout Score of these attending physicians was 3.1 +/- 0.8; 36% were classified as being at risk for burnout, and 14% were classified as burned out. There was no association between burnout status and the following work conditions: having fellows; having protected time for research and publications; frequency of being called at home; frequency of returning to the hospital when called at home; or call schedule. Respondents classified as burned out were significantly more likely than respondents who were classified as not burned out to feel that their work was not valued by others. Burned out respondents were less likely than respondents who were not burned out to give the following description: feeling very successful; feeling that their peers viewed them as very successful; feeling satisfied in their professional life; and routinely exercising or having some other outside interest. We found that a high degree of burnout exists in pediatric critical care medicine, with 50% of pediatric intensivists at risk or burned out. Overall, there was no association between Burnout Scores and training, practice specialties, or practice settings, nor was there an association with aspects of practice that are physically taxing. However, perceptions about the value of their work and feelings of success and satisfaction were highly associated with those respondents classified as burned out. Routine exercise (a strategy used by some for stress reduction) was associated with lower Burnout Scores. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the trends that we have reported and to identify causal factors.

1.4.3 EVOLUTION OF THE INTEGRATED MASTER PLAN ON THE F‐22 PROGRAM

AbstractThe Integrated Master Plan (IMP) developed by Lockheed for the F‐22 Program has become a model throughout the Industry. Part of an integrated management system which details the total work effort through significant accomplishments and success criteria, this contractual document is expanded by the non‐contractual Integrated Master Schedule which details the tasking and timing of the work effort as described in the IMP.This innovative document, developed through the System Engineering Process in and Integrated Product Development environment, evolved as a detailed expansion of the Program Statement of Work (SOW) and establishes by key program review Events(e.g., PDR, CDR, etc.), the Significant Accomplishments and Accomplishment Criteria necessary to develop the F‐22 weapon system to meet its specification requirements. It traces the interaction among the various Product Sections of the IMP to achieve standardization, integration, and total system verification.This paper traces the evolution of the F‐22 Integrated Master Plan from inception to date, detailing the though processes, rationale, and planning involved in its success. The paper further details the coordinated process wherein this contractual document is revised to reflect changes in program direction, requirements, or funding. The paper illustrates, as the result of the system engineering approach to the design of the F‐22 IMP, how, almost five years later, the basic IMP structure remains intact and has become a model for subsequent industry program IMPs.

Total Work Effort under a Negative Income Tax

Total Work Effort under a Negative Income Tax

Income taxation and the allocation of market labor

The allocation of work effort within the market economy will be unaffected by taxation if all returns from labor market activity are taxed equally. However, if the earnings from certain types of market employment are taxed at relatively lower rates, labor will shift into these areas until after-tax earnings are equal across all types of employment. This paper presents evidence suggesting that income taxation induces labor to move from high- to low-tax geographic areas and from wage and salaried jobs into self-employment activities. By affecting the allocation of market labor, the income tax generates a welfare loss in addition to that resulting from the tax’s effect on total work effort.

Heuristics for determining output and work allocations in series flow lines

In order to efficiently design production systems we must understand the effect on throughput from different choices of design parameters. One of those parameters is the allocation of total work effort among the various stations in the production line. We have found heuristics which enable us to find approximate values for the optimal allocation and for the output rate. These results, besides extending those systems for which we can perform good allocations, also are consistent with the expected work assignments based on known conjectured theoretical results.