Our healthcare systems are not designed to make the process or ‘value stream’ of care flow smoothly. Healthcare services are often ‘queue and batch’, with patients spending most of their time waiting until the healthcare professional is ready – i.e. push versus pull. As the population matures, patient cycle time becomes a key measurement that needs to improve – whether it is in the hospital itself, post-care facilities, or laboratories. Further, space is at a premium in running all of the functions within a hospital facility.
Our belief is that Lean Healthcare can provide a solution to some of these concerns with minimal cost but maximum benefit.
Therefore, the essence of Lean Thinking as applied to healthcare is to:
- Eliminate waste through understanding the value to the patient and how to deliver that value
- Create an efficient and waste-free continuous flow system built on a pull vs. ‘batch and queue’ approach
- Continually pursue a perfect system
The following are examples of the type of wastes that exist in healthcare:
- Redundant capture of information on admission
- Multiple recording of patient information
- Excess supplies stored in multiple locations
- Time spent looking for charts
- Patient waiting rooms
- Continuous back-tracking of movement of medical staff
- Time spent waiting for equipment, lab results, x-rays, and so on
- Time spent dealing with complaints about service
