PPE

Case Study: Using RACI and Swimlane in the Pandemic

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The problem: Healthcare providers needed to safely care for patients over the course of the pandemic. But how could they keep everyone safe without adequate supply of N95 masks?

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Quick Wins Can Successfully Launch Operational Excellence in Healthcare

Quick Wins Can Successfully Launch Operational Excellence in Healthcare

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If the Mayo Clinic can do it, so can you! Let this case study at the medical organization’s Phoenix Transplant Center be your guide to operational excellence in healthcare settings.

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Diagnostic Clinics Six Sigma Case Study

Creating Customer Delight – A Case Study in Diagnostic Clinics: Part 5 of 5

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In this continuation of a multi-part case study, recurring problems are identified and eliminated at the diagnostic clinics’ newly established centralized laboratory.

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Control Chart Turn Around Time

Creating Customer Delight – A Case Study in Diagnostic Clinics: Part 4 of 5

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This now five-part case study focuses on improving customer satisfaction at two of a company’s diagnostic clinics – Centers A and B. In Part One, the company worked at Center A to reduce patient turnaround time, a defining component of patient satisfaction. In Part Two, the chain’s improvement story focuses on increasing patient delight at […]

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Collecting Ideas for Improvement – ASPIRE

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Building a culture of continuous improvement within an organization goes beyond the ability to execute process improvement projects. An organization that supports continuous improvement promotes a non-blaming culture, focuses on the improvement responsibility of all employees and uses the talent of the entire workforce. Such an organization empowers employees to speak up when they see […]

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Rural American Healthcare – A Willing Group Needing Six Sigma Assistance

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In the heartland of America the population of residents is shrinking. Along with a decline in population comes the fading economic market of consumers to support the service businesses of these communities. Due to aging populations and fewer people migrating to rural America, small towns confront real threats to their ways of life. Economies are […]

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Case Study: Improving Purchase Order Process

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The accounts payable shared services center (SSC) of a large Ohio-based healthcare system completed a Six Sigma operational enhancement and reporting project. This case study reviews the course of the project which endeavored to establish standard invoice processing times and develop an ongoing system for monitoring how well those standards are met. Over the last […]

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Case Study: Reducing Turnaround Time of Lab Reports in the ICU

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A 250-bed hospital had implemented total quality management (TQM) to improve customer delight in its diagnostic clinics. After that success, the management team of the hospital was ready to proceed with further process improvement. After completing a brainstorming and prioritization exercise, the team determined to next address the problem: delay in receiving test reports for patients […]

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Creating Customer Delight – A Case Study in Diagnostic Clinics: Part 3 of 3

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This three-part case study focuses on improving customer satisfaction at two of the company’s diagnostic clinics – Centers A and B. In Part One, the company worked at Center A to reduce patient turnaround time, a defining component of patient satisfaction. In Part Two, the chain’s improvement story focuses on increasing patient delight at Center […]

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Creating Customer Delight – A Case Study in Diagnostic Clinics: Part 2 of 3

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This three-part case study focuses on two of the company’s diagnostic clinics – Centers A and B. In Part One, the company worked at Center A to reduce patient turnaround time, a defining component of patient satisfaction. Part Two of the chain’s improvement story focuses on increasing patient delight at Center B. Part Three revisits […]

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Creating Customer Delight – A Case Study in Diagnostic Clinics: Part 1 of 3

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The following is Part One of a three-part article. Click here to read Part Two. Click here to read Part Three. A chain of medical diagnostic clinics was developed from the ground up. After two years of hectic expansion marked by acquisitions and setting up greenfield clinics across a number of cities, it became clear […]

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Wolfe Eye Clinic: A Healthcare Performance Chain Done Right

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As a career operations professional, many of my friends understand that I see process flows in nearly everything I encounter. Some friends find this entertaining, others find it a bit annoying. But mostly they allow me to exercise (not exorcise) my craft. You see, I was born of operational parents. I’m not sure if it […]

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Mind Mapping

Mind Mapping: A Simpler Way to Capture Information

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Reducing wait times is a perennial challenge for the service industry, particularly if you haven’t rooted out all the causes for the delays. The mind mapping visualization tool can help you make sense of large volumes of interconnected data and fast-track implementation of Lean Six Sigma.

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Massachusetts General Hospital Featured in Latest ‘Best of the Best’ Webinar

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If you didn’t have the ability to attend an iSixSigma Live! event in person during the first half of 2011 (and given the content at these world-class conferences, you really should have been there), you still have the chance to take in some of the best presentations from those programs with the iSixSigma “Best of […]

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Using Lean Six Sigma to Achieve NCQA Certification

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Since its founding in 1990, National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has been driving improvement through the development of quality standards and measures in the healthcare field. The NCQA measures are more commonly recognized as Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS). How can organizations incorporate Lean Six Sigma in their NCQA accreditation efforts? Lean […]

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Improving Process Turnaround Time in an Outpatient Clinic

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Historically, medical residency teaching clinics provide the heart of medical services to an under-insured population through various government-subsidized health insurance programs. These programs provide medical coverage for eligible individuals with incomes of less than 35 percent of the federal poverty level. It is well-established that people living in poverty are at a higher risk for […]

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Giving Clinical Minutes Back to Patients Is a Precious Currency

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Benjamin Franklin once said that “time is money.” In the clinical world, time can be more valuable than money. When a patient is in need of attention, bedside clinical caregiver time is worth more than money. As Vice President of Support Services at Heartland Health, my job is to make sure support service departments – […]

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DMAIC Model Helps to Establish a Preventive Maintenance Program

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The biomedical world – which includes the equipment used in hospitals, as well as physicians’ and dentists’ offices – is ripe for Six Sigma use. As a senior biomedical engineer and a Black Belt, I embarked on a Six Sigma journey that would provide top-quality service at reduced costs to my customers. As part of […]

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The Influence of Empowering Healthcare Workers

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“What kind of care would I want for a loved one who is fighting cancer?” This is the question that Julia, an outpatient clinic nurse at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), asked herself as she observed the following process: Mrs. Smith, a patient, arrives early to the clinic to meet with her oncologist, Dr. […]

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Southcoast Health System Sees Benefits from Lean and Six Sigma

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Director of Quality Outcomes Nidia Williams explains how the deployment in this three-hospital organization has evolved in the past two years.

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Study Shows Physician Involvement in Improvement Projects Helps Sustain Changes

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The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) National Research Network and the American College of Physicians released a study in the Journal of the American Board of Family Physicians (JABFM) in September showing how including both physicians and non-physicians on process improvement teams can help better facilitate change management, according to an article by David […]

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Is Lean the Secret to Curing Healthcare?

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Dr. John Toussaint, former CEO and president of the ThedaCare healthcare system, shares his lessons learned in applying Lean in his recent book. ThedaCare Inc., a not-for-profit system of hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and other services in Northeast Wisconsin, has been practicing Lean for more than seven years. Through its use of Lean principles, the […]

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A Day in Photos at Virginia Mason Medical Center

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For patients of Virginia Mason Medical Center, trips to the hospital can actually be pleasant – or at least free of discomfort and waste. The center is a private, not-for-profit organization offering integrated health services, including a 336-bed hospital in Seattle and a network of primary and specialty care clinics throughout the Puget Sound region. […]

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Case Study: Improving Medical Bill Review Cycle Time

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When the clock is ticking in time-bound, customer-sensitive operations, using Lean Six Sigma can be a smart move toward achieving operational excellence and customer satisfaction. In this case study, one large insurance company executed a Lean Six Sigma project to cut operational costs for property and casualty (P&C) insurance claims and improve customer satisfaction. The […]

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