Lean Principles Applied to Healthcare Workflow
April 3rd, 2008 by Jon Mertz
(4 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)
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Just recently, I wrote about how workflow discussions are frequent, and sometimes it is easy to lose sight of what needs to be simply done. In the current issue of Health Management Technology, there is an interesting article of how Meadows Regional Medical Center applied lean manufacturing principles to their workflow. The article is entitled Leaning Towards Efficiency, and is written by the hospital CEO, Alan Kent.
The hospital worked with Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute and focused on improving the Emergency Department (ED) workflow.
In healthcare IT, it is great to read about how workflow projects are undertaken in a straightforward way and achieve significant results in a short time period. As the article states:
“The lean team at Meadow’s developed 44 action items for reducing lead time to admit, treat and discharge a non-critical ED patient, 18 of which were determined to be low cost and high impact.”
The results, according to the Georgia Tech press release:
“… a 44 percent reduction in average length of stay per patient, a 10 percent boost in patients served and a 92 percent patient satisfaction rate.”
Great work!
Last 5 posts by Jon Mertz
- Corepoint Health - The Next Generation of NeoTool - April 21st, 2009
- The Role of IT in Building the Practice - January 8th, 2009
- Read Healthcare Predictions for 2009 - January 8th, 2009
- Insights - Outpatient Imaging Center CIO - October 17th, 2008
- The Road to EMR Interoperability - October 16th, 2008
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