Business Talk — North-West University’s Dr Maria van Zyl on the data behind healthcare inefficiency in South Africa
In this Business Talk with Michael Avery interview, Dr Maria van Zyl unpacks her research into healthcare inefficiency in South Africa.
Van Zyl is a Senior Lecturer and Postgraduate Programme Manager in Industrial Engineering at the North-West University.
She has qualifications in industrial engineering and engineering management, with a PhD in Industrial Engineering.
Her research is centred around the application of operations research and management, systems thinking, and data-driven methods to real-world healthcare challenges.
It explores operations and systems challenges such as waiting times in healthcare, resource allocation problems, hospital operations, and healthcare workforce planning, with the aim of supporting more efficient, sustainable, and accessible healthcare.
Van Zyl’s work helped establish the Healthcare Systems Engineering initiative at the NWU, where engineers, healthcare professionals, and industry partners work together to improve how healthcare systems function.
The interview
In this Business Talk interview, van Zyl explains that many of the issues in South Africa’s healthcare sector are because of sub-optimal systems.
She explains how her team uses mathematical modelling, simulation, and data analytics to streamline hospital operations, and explains other areas that need optimisation that are often ignored.
Van Zyl explains why it is critical that engineers, healthcare professionals, and other stakeholders collaborate to solve healthcare problems.
She also explains that solving these challenges in South Africa could position us to develop innovations that have global benefits.
Van Zyl concludes the interview by explaining what success over the next five to ten years looks like in her view.
Watch the full interview below.
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