Lean HealthcareLean Industries Series

Topics

• What is Lean?

• Why Lean Healthcare?

• What is Lean Healthcare?

• Benefits of Lean Healthcare

• Implementing Lean Healthcare

• Leading Lean Hospitals

• Summary

• The Bottom Line

• The basic values of Lean Healthcare are to:

▫ Put the customer/patient first

▫ Define value in terms of the customer

▫ Learn to see the 8 wastes of Healthcare

▫ Make “less is more” the way to do things

Why Lean Healthcare?

To be a Lean Thinker means to constantly strive to improve by focusing on driving out waste in all its

forms.

By attacking the ever present 8 wastes of Healthcare, greater value can be created with less

effort.

Why Lean Healthcare?

Lean is based on reducing costs rather than raising prices or

reducing services.

Source: www.leanhealthcaresolutions.com

Why Lean Healthcare?

Source: www.leanhealthcaresolutions.com

• Why implement lean into the healthcare industry▫ 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions per year in the

US▫ 500 incorrect surgical operations per week▫ 50 new born babies dropped at birth per day▫ Enormous defect rate (estimated at nearly 45% by

the New England Journal of Medicine, June 2003)▫ Cost escalation▫ 60%-80% of costs can be reduced▫ Work and patient flow will improve▫ Patient as well as non-patient care processes will

improve▫ Improves morale, productivity and bottom line

Why Lean Healthcare?

Source: www.superfactory.com

Types of Healthcare Types of Healthcare WasteWasteTYPES LABORATORY EXAMPLE PATIENT CARE EXAMPLE

(ONCOLOGY)

Defects Mislabeled patient specimens Wrong medication delivered to patient

Overproduction

“Just in case” blood tubes drawn from patients but not used

Patients seen by MD faster than can be treated by chemo causing delays

Transportation Moving specimens long distances from receiving to testing

Long walks from MD clinic to chemotherapy

Waiting Specimens waiting in batches for testing

Patients waiting due to schedule exceeding capacity

Inventory Expired test reagents Expired chemo drugs

Motion Technologist waling due to poor layout

Nurses searching for missing supplies

Over processing

Time/date stamps on labels that are not used

Time spent creating a schedule that is not followed

Human Potential

Employee ideas not listened to

• American healthcare is in crisis

• The industry is struggling with skyrocketing costs, poor quality, nursing shortages and employee dissatisfaction

• Healthcare providers are realizing the imperative of improving quality and safety and eliminating waste as strategies

• Lean healthcare is a way to transform your entire organization into a safe and high-quality, high-performing healthcare deliver system

Summary

Lean Healthcare is the “how to” of managing change and creating

continuous improvement

• Lean thinking embeds quality at source into every process – with big implications for mortality and medical errors

• It frees up the latent capacity in current systems – without requiring new capital

• It releases more time to spend on solving the difficult cases

• As you improve current processes you see new opportunities for designing alternative ways of delivering care – with different working practices and the right equipment

Summary

There is no one lean best way – but several!

Summary

• Lean healthcare doesn’t happen unless:

▫Someone is responsible for rethinking the whole process

▫Is supported by all those involved in running the process

▫The organization, with expert help, develops a future state plan that shows where to conduct breakthrough improvement events and where to use lean tools

The Bottom Line

Healthcare facilities must find ways to conserve resources in order to keep costs contained and reduced to ensure patient

health and safety.

This can only be accomplished by reducing waste through continuous improvement

Lean Healthcare will improve profitability for your healthcare organization