1.0 Chapter one: Introduction “As global healthcare expenditure soars, and as systems are increasingly required to deliver better care to more people using less resource, the challenge to explore the promises of lean thinking is compelling” (Young and McClean, 2009 p.309). In the UK the government has set deadlines for Accident and Emergency (A&E) patients to be dealt with (Boseley, 2015). The hospitals are facing challenges for this deadline. In this context the implementation of lean can enable hospitals improve their efficiencies whiles at the same time reducing cost. This dissertation looks into the opportunities and challenges of implementing lean within the healthcare sector. 1.1 Background: The lean philosophy centers on the elimination of waste in all forms in an organisation (Shpak, 2016). Lean is usually implemented by initially conducting training, initiating pilot projects and implementing changes (Poksinska, 2010). Some of the benefits of lean implementation includes: improves quality and safety; improves staff moral; improves throughput; improves delivery and helps in cost reduction (Jones and Mitchel, 2006; NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement 2007). The challenges of lean implementation include: resistance to change and lack of team work; limited communication and leadership and staff having less knowledge of the lean concept (Grove et al., 2010; Halling and Wijk, 2013 and Poksinska, 2010). This research is to explore some challenges of
In healthcare, throughput refers to the ED process that impacts patient flow (Jarousse 2011). Process and flow began to be scrutinized for opportunities to improve the overcrowding by becoming more efficient. Due to this new process focus, throughput was born. This is also the point where lean flow or lean thinking became prevalent into healthcare from a manufacturing stand point to improve throughput. Lean principles revolve around removing non value added steps and standardizing work flow and processes. When applied aggressively hospital wide, lean principles can have a dramatic effect on productivity, cost, and quality. Numerous books concerning lean healthcare have been published in recent years (Crane & Noon 2011).
“Lean is a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste (non-value-added activities) through continuous improvement by flowing the **product at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection.” Lockwood [24].
Raymond’s patient experience in the emergency room stems from the problems associated with The Patient Admission Process. In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness within the patient admission process, my Quality Improvement team has outlined and evaluated a plan that will improve the Admission Process from the point of patient transportation to discharge. Including members from different areas and departments in the emergency room, the QI team will tackle all aspects of the problems associated with the Admission Process. Starting with the SCOPE statement, the QI team developed goals that will be hopefully achieved at the end of the implementation of the Lean Process. Firstly, the plan to tackle the problems associated with the Admission
The case study “Lean Concepts in Healthcare: A Return on Investment Study,” focused on the “reVIEW” (Realizing Exceptional Value in Everyday Work) program, which was a training and implementation program initiated at Home Town Care, a Pennsylvania based, long-term care facility (Phillips & Phillips, 2012). The study examines how the Phillips ROI Methodology was utilized to assess three projects that were implemented by employees as a part of the reVIEW program (Phillips & Phillips, 2012). The overall goal of the reVIEW program was to introduce Home Town Care employees to lean principles and methods over the course of seven weeks (Phillips & Phillips, 2012). The lean principles applied here although generally utilized in the manufacturing industry, were applicable in improving Home Town Care’s efficiency and quality of service.
Why learn from them? – New Hanover has implemented a full lean operating / management system and credit the approach with driving improvements in major health system outcomes. This is an example of an organization that used lean to drive outcomes successfully.
The lean philosophy centers on the elimination of waste in all forms in an organisation (Shpak, 2016). Lean is usually implemented by initially
The implementation of lean operations is one the most popular ways to improve efficiency and productivity in operations. This strategy has afforded many businesses the opportunities to streamline processes that resulted in improved systems and efficiency. However, many businesses face obstacles with implementing lean practices for various reasons such as unclear directions, employees that are resistant to change, and poor planning. Businesses that encounter issues with lean implementation must identify performance metrics to improve operational strategies. This paper will examine the obstacles businesses experience with lean implementation.
The cost of labor is a huge cost for hospitals. Florida, especially has such fluctuating patient volumes, it is especially important to staff appropriately. Lean method, as a management strategy, would focus on making the workforce and staffing ratios as close to perfect, functional, and as effective as possible so that it adds value to the organization and will cut waste.
As the article mentioned: lean is not mean. It promotes respect for people (both staff and customers – patients) while ensuring that the best work is being done, utilizing the less resources at a lower costs. Can be argued that people are one of the main resources for a Lean implementation.
Although there seems to be limited publication on adoption of Lean thinking in hospital A & E departments, a lot of research articles appear in a variety of electronic sources in the field of adoption Lean thinking in health care in general. But because of their relationship, literature on Lean thinking in healthcare is in order.
This is an informative article about lean methodologies and provides excellent background information about lean and how it can apply to health care.
The application and implementation of lean principles or thinking is a process that requires commitment from every stakeholder in the organization. This process entails commitment to the organization's workers and to the system itself in order to make changes towards improvement. Generally, the implementation of lean thinking is geared towards continuous improvement through the elimination of waste. However, lean management or implementation of the principles sometimes incorporate mistakes that are made by leaders in the execution process. This is mainly because lean leadership appears to be simple though its complex because of the costs associated with it. The mistakes usually occur because of intrinsic complexities of exploring deeply into organizational philosophies, business strategy, psychology, and macroeconomics.
Lean is defines the manufacturing philosophy that reduces the time between the shipping and customer demand, which based on the systematic method by eliminating waste, that means giving the customer what they want when they want it, and don 't waste whatever. Rahmana, Sharif and Esa (2013) suggested lean production is mentioned to improve the company 's performance from the philosophy in reducing waste in order. That means, lean system destination is the decrease cost by removing the non-value activities, which they are applying a category of tools and techniques for checking and eliminating defective in the production process. In the Evenort Company should emulate the five overriding principles of lean thinking in terms of implementing lean that there is guarantee the company has been driving correctly in the lean manufacturing (Cardiff 2015) as can show in table 1.
In modern day world, organizations are facing a myriad of challenges. They are facing increasing and continually changing demands by customers, keen and knowledgeable competitors who seize every opportunity that comes their way, and a reduction of the resource base owing to increase spending. Most organizations, therefore, are seeking to increase customer satisfaction, reduce operational costs of doing business, and change their research strategy to improve their know-how on new trends in the market as a way of grasping a competitive edge among their competitors. Companies are engaging the lean supply chain management as a way of achieving their goals. As such, through the approach they can provide the right
This research done in order to identify lean practices, organizational commitment and operational performance in hospitals. This survey was conducted among lean managers and operators of each project in 2009. As per the researcher success of lean directly benefits the internal operations process as well as operational performance