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FAQ
Why Should the Healthcare Industry Adopt a Quality and Performance Improvement Culture?
- Healthcare in the United States is in a crisis. Spiraling costs, reduced reimbursements, increasing uninsured patients, lack of nurses, and increase of antibiotic resistant bacteria are just a few reasons the healthcare industry must improve their processes; this can be accomplished by implementing quality and performance improvement methodologies. The healthcare industry is beginning to see results using these tools.
- How is the Healthy Hospital® approach different from other quality improvement initiatives?
The Healthy Hospital® approach is superior because its focus is on rapid sustainable improvement. Sustainment is achieved through an organized process of performance improvement.
What Exactly Is Meant by the Word “Process?”
Let’s take a hospital process – emergency treatment. The process begins when a patient arrives in the ER and ends when they are either discharged or admitted.
How is Lean Six Sigma applied to the Healthcare Industry?
One set of tools successfully borrowed from the manufacturing industry and applied to the healthcare industry is “Lean Six Sigma”, which is based on the foundation of a set of process improvement tools focused on eliminating waste in various processes and in turn increasing throughput. For example, waiting is one type of waste and variation. In a manufacturing organization this could be parts, inspections, machine repairs, etc. In the healthcare industry, this could be waiting for bed assignments, admissions, testing, treatment and lab results. This methodology can be successfully applied in both industries to eliminate their relevant forms of waste and variability, thereby increasing throughput, decreasing costs, and increasing profitability.
What is a “Rapid Improvement Event?”
A rapid improvement event is one tool used the Healthy Hospital® process. The process is worked by a team of employees who focus on the current process, identifying improvements, and implementing a new process. Results are produced immediately.
Where Can We Learn More About Lean and the Healthy Hospital® Process?
Innovative Productivity, Inc. has initiated and is pioneering the Healthy Hospital® initiative to assist organizations in the healthcare industry achieve outstanding performance improvements by employing Lean tools and techniques.
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