Lean Healthcare Solutions

Lean Healthcare Goal

The goal of the Lean Healthcare Program is to improve your bottom line and customer/patient satisfaction by increasing responsiveness to the customer/patient, while at the same time, reducing cost and increasing quality. We have developed very effective simultaneous training and application techniques that adapt Lean tools and concepts to each organization's unique situation.

Lean Healthcare Benefits

Some of the benefits of Lean Healthcare include immediate ROI, increased patient satisfaction, faster response to patient needs, staff are able to spend more time on value activities, the impact of the change is transferred to groups instead of individuals; the participants in the program gain the confidence to continue without outside assistance. The entire organization 'sees' the impact and will understand the value in supporting the new direction and thinking.

Lean Healthcare is simply about creating more value for customers/patients by eliminating activities that are considered waste. Any activity or process that consumes resources, adds cost or time without creating value becomes the target for elimination. Lean focuses on the client/patient and what the client/patient feels is 'value'.

Lean Healthcare Approach

Our Lean Healthcare approach focuses on 'system-level' improvements (as opposed to 'point improvements'). It is this system-level work that dramatically improves your bottom line results. In order for a process to reach its full potential, it is important to initially understand what is happening from a system perspective (end-to-end). The next step is to transform the selected value stream(s) - from request of the service to the actual delivery of that service.

Before the Lean Healthcare Program begins, the organization selects 1 to 2 value stream(s) for the Lean transformation. These value stream(s) will be analyzed, and the activities will be assessed and data captured to determine value and non-value (waste). The current state map will show true customer/patient wait time measured against client/patient demand. A future state value stream map will be created that looks out both long term (couple years) and short term (3 to 4 months) at what the system would look like with the non-value add activities, or waste removed. From the future state map the team creates a Lean implementation plan that systematically details how the waste is going to be eliminated.

The detailed Lean implementation plan identifies the tools required, where they are required, when they are required and who is responsible for applying these tools to make the transformation from current to future state. The Lean implementation plan eliminates the opportunity for creating point improvements and avoids "exciting chaos" and ensures everyone is moving in the same direction (vision). This element of executing a proper Plan is critical to maximize results and sustain the improvements.

Improve Patient Turn Around Time

Decreases in Turn Around Time (TAT) can only have positive effects for patients in our healthcare system and for the healthcare professionals waiting for the information and/or the results.

Improve Patient Wait Times

Using Lean in Diagnostics will allow patients to receive response to their results in a more timely fashion but will also allow them to move to the next part of their treatment opening up a bed for the next patient.

Error Proofing

Effective error-proofing is able to detect and prevent errors reliably and consistently without being affected by emotion or distractions.

Improve Patient Safety

Improve patient safety by preventing errors.

Quick Setup and Changeover

By first observing and then doing a detailed analysis of the current 'setup - changeover' process you can design a new standardized system that will not only decrease the amount of time taken but will also ensure that rooms have been properly set up according to what you need, and where and when you need it.

Improve Productivity

Most employees come to work wanting to do a good job. Most employees also think they are working hard and are doing a good job. The fact is they are working hard but that does not mean that they are working smart or working on value activities.

Reduce Operating Costs

Operating costs are something else that can be dramatically affected by eliminating many of the different types of wastes that currently exist in our healthcare system.