Whipping healthcare into shape
Nov 29th, 2009 by Marie Giordano
Healthcare Headache or Improvement Opportunity
Lean Six Sigma
As we move forward, the healthcare industry will be serving a double edged sword, and in an effort to reduce or eliminate the pain, the MAGNUMUS need for process improvement and quality metrics is ESSENTIAL. Specifically in these times it is necessary to eliminate non-value added items. Times are tough for all, and to reduce waste is paramount.
As the baby boom generation ages, the US will see the majority of its population in their senior years. Adding to the already short supply of medical professionals, the increasing services that will be needed, if not already overwhelming, will be out of control. To add to that, President Obama’s Healthcare plan, which is an overall positive effort to improve quality, will unfortunately increase regulation, policies, and constraints on the industry. Thus, causing another dramatic financial burden on all facilities. As some of President Obama’s goals stated that he wants provided are to:
ENSURE PROVIDERS DELIVER QUALITY CARE
Promote patient safety. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will require providers to report preventable medical errors, and support hospital and physician practice improvement to prevent future errors.
Align incentives for excellence. Both public and private insurers tend to pay providers based on the volume of services provided, rather than the quality or effectiveness of care.21 Barack Obama and Joe Biden will accelerate efforts to develop and disseminate best practices, and align reimbursement with provision of high quality health care. Providers who see patients enrolled in the new public plan, the National Health Insurance Exchange, Medicare and FEHB will be rewarded for achieving performance thresholds on physician-validated outcome measures.”
Process improvement consultants can design and implement real solutions that draw on an organization’s collective know-how to deliver proven results to healthcare organizations. Process performance improvement firms can and will provide value added consulting and implementation services that target bottom line results in quality of care, efficiency, patient satisfaction and organizational improvement. Returns on investments have succeeded 200%.
Many hospitals look inward to their own organizations, imbedded in the medical profession to make these changes occur. That may have some immediate benefit, but to embrace continuous improvement and to keep pace with the industry, it is necessary to look outside the box. GO LEAN with those that are experts in Lean Six Sigma, who just may have had their roots in manufacturing.
A sampling of what six sigma and process improvement firms can due for your facility:
Increased Patient Satisfaction and Care
Higher satisfaction scores
Fewer complaints
Reduced wait times and variation
Increased Physician Satisfaction
Fewer physician complaints
Dramatically improved throughput
Reduced scheduling delays
Reduced Costs / Cost savings
Better financials and higher annual savings
Less rework and waste
Better recruiting and retention power – both clinical and administrative
More efficient emergency departments
Fewer medical errors
Applying Lean Six Sigma Tools will eliminate the waste now placing you in a better position as our country’s demographics as well as government policies continue to change. Qualaco has the experience,knowledge and education to deliver a lean facility using six sigma tools, combined with thorough knowledge of ISO 13485 for procedural integration of processes. If you want to maintain 100% customer satisfaction and loyalty while streamlining contact.us@qualaco.com