19 April 2011
Lean Healthcare Using Kaizen
Using the highly acclaimed Japanese theory of Kaizen as its base, lean healthcare encourages hospitals to small improvements to its processes on an ongoing basis. This exercise not only reduces waste and increases efficiency, but also provides greater customer value and boosts the bottom line of the establishment of health care.For example, applying healthcare lean point of screening could mean nurses equip with two or more tubs of supply. As soon as all supplies in locations are exhausted, he could be sent for resupply. During this time, instead of waiting with impatience for fresh supplies, nurses may use supplies in the second bin. This approach would eliminate the need for overstocking, resulting in reduced waste and reduced storage space requirements.Thus, the very foundations which made a success among the manufacturers of Kaizen can help create diagnostics point-of-care more effective as well.Kaizen has three levels of application: brainstorming, innovation and standardization.BrainstormingImplementing Kaizen for point-of-care testing requires generation wide idea.To start, the installation must identify the areas where maximum waste occurs. To locate these, each event from the time where a patient enters a hospital at the time when he is finally released should be considered.For example, instead of adding a Department staff, to upgrade the equipment used could prove an effective way to increase the number of patients treated by the current members of the Department. In addition, upgrades can cost less recruitment, training and to place new specialists.Opposing this view, some caregivers believe that with fewer staff available for point-of-care diagnostics would create a dangerous environment for patients.However, lean healthcare it responds only by reducing unnecessary tasks. In fact, crucial tasks would be rendered more effective so that caregivers can provide best quality treatment to their patients.InnovationBy using its property in innovative ways, a health care facility can increase the satisfaction of the client with its own profits.Statistics show that surgeons are often overloaded with work week while hospital beds go empty over the weekend. Making surgery more Friday, patients may be given on weekend recovery time. In this way, surgeons could have a week more relaxed, while patients would miss fewer days of school or work.In addition, certain types of treatments involve a patient visiting multiple rooms for different tests and Diagnostics. Rooms nearby reduced transit time, and speed up processing. Create multi-purpose rooms for point-of-care testing also saves space and allows to extend a health care facility.StandardizationStandard process reduce errors and costs. For example, designing a uniform Theatre cart operation would reduce time spent on the creation. Standardization would reduce errors by staff in preparation and to avoid overstocking thus.That said, no solution is perfect since each institution of health and industry as the evolution of the entire guard. Remaining true to the spirit of Kaizen, lean healthcare requires a hospital to provide ongoing improvements, while still keeping its own processes and the well-being of the patients in mind.