Engaging Staff in Lean Improvements for Patient Care Settings

Session
Labor Management

Author
Mark Graban
Senior Lean Consultant
ValuMetrix Services
Ortho Clinical Diagnostics

Description
Learn how Illinois health system formed teams to implement Lean methods and a Lean Management System in a community health center and an inpatient ward at the main hospital. Rather than relying on scattered Kaizen Events, the teams spent six and 12 weeks, respectively, to fully implement "model lines".

Abstract
The presenter led two teams of nurses, physicians, and administrative staff within the Riverside Health System in Kankakee, IL. One project was focused on improving staff efficiency, while also reducing patient delays, at a community health center clinic. The other project was at the main hospital in a med/surg inpatient unit, focused on eliminating waste to increase the amount of time nurses could spend on direct patient care. At the start of the project, nurses were spending only 33% of their time on direct patient care. The project aimed to nearly double this time.

In each case, a cross-functional team was dedicated to spend 100% of their time over six weeks and 12 weeks (in the two projects, respectively), to learn Lean methods, identify waste, and implement improvements with the input of the entire staff. Lean methods such as standardized work, 5S, visual management, error proofing, and kanban were used to eliminate waste. Rather than just implementing tools, efforts were made to implement the beginnings of a "Lean Management System", where formal methods were put in place to visually manage employee suggestions, to implement via a PDCA process, to track key performance measures daily, and to audit standardized work processes.