Case Study of Lean in Hospital Admissions to Inspire Culture Change. Issue 4 (1st October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Haddad, Marc G.; Zouein, Pierrette P.; Salem, Joseph; Otayek, Rami
• Is Part Of: Engineering management journal. Volume 28:Issue 4(2016)
• Page Start: 209
• Page End: 223
• Publication Date: 2016-10-01
• Subjects: 5S -- Discrete-Event Simulation -- Hospital Admissions -- Lean Healthcare -- Patient Flow -- Poka-Yoke -- Waterspider; Continuous Improvement.; Engineering -- Management -- Periodicals; Engineering -- Management; Periodicals; 620.0068
• DOI: 10.1080/10429247.2016.1234896
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1042-9247

Abstract

Abstract: The hospital admissions process is a distinct experience for patients as this is where they start their journey for medical care, usually with a mix of anxiety and anticipation about what is to follow. This process also happens to be long and stressful, with numerous steps, frequent delays, and the occasional glitches along the way. In this study, we used lean thinking and discrete-event simulation to map and model the inpatient admissions process at a multi-specialty hospital in order to improve patient flow and reduce unnecessary waiting and handling by patients and staff. We found that by applying a combination of simple but complementary lean techniques, it was possible to reduce the total patient time in the system by up to 43%, without incurring additional costs or using more resources. The potential for achieving substantial improvements at low cost, combined with the approach of validation-prior-to-implementation adopted in this study, can both help process engineers and engineering managers to build support for any proposed lean initiative. This also makes it possible to sustain continuous improvement in the long term, which is at the heart of the lean approach.