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Making the case for Lean Six Sigma in the healthcare sector
Mon, Jun 07, 2021 Vijaya Sunder M
The Lean healthcare systems worldwide witnessed a significant evolution in the past two decades by transforming the processes and the behaviors within the healthcare firms. For example, Mayo Clinic in the USA implemented Lean in the early 2000s and achieved higher customer satisfaction among the cancer patients in their chemotherapy department.
Another such example is the National Health Service in the UK, where Lean deployment has improved hospital performance and delivered significant cost savings.
Even in developing economies such as India, Lean implementations have transformed both clinical and non-clinical processes among the hospitals. For example, in 2019, Fortis hospital, India’s second-largest hospital chain, declared that it cut costs by 20 per cent by embarking on Lean deployment.
In an interview with an executive director of the Apollo Hospitals Group, it was mentioned that they have been practicing Lean in their work processes to improve both efficiency and effectiveness.
While Lean implementation in the healthcare sector has provided some success, it had its share of drawbacks.
First, most of the Lean works in healthcare links to the traditional Toyota Production System and have not included the recent developments in Lean.
Second, implementing Lean in hospitals has been a daunting task in many countries, as Lean does not demand a data-driven approach.
Third, several studies emphasized that the leading cause for poor patient care in hospitals is the incorrect selection of Lean projects based on hospital management’s intuition.
Further, in many organizations, Lean has been perceived as an ad-hoc activity without considering its systemic implications. While the Lean literature endorsed several field-based tools like value stream mapping and visual management, it missed recognizing other important continuous improvement (CI) tools like process mapping, control charts, root-cause-analysis, etc.
Importantly, Lean does not address process variation related issues. Finally, the criticism that Lean lacks a project management framework to execute projects has been a concern among practitioners.
Alongside these, the healthcare sector’s inherent challenges like unevenness in healthcare operations, measurement system and quantification challenges, demarking healthcare as a market, defining patient as a customer, have been vague and, in fact, majorly unaddressed.
With the recent development of Lean Six Sigma, a hybrid method that combines the rapidness of Lean and Six Sigma’s robustness, most of these problems get addressed.
Our research and practice of applying Lean Six Sigma in various healthcare contexts, including out-patient departments, mobile hospitals, pharmacies, healthcare insurance, diagnostic labs, intensive care, and in-patient admits, have convincingly endorsed Lean Six Sigma’s fitness for providing high-quality and low-cost healthcare services.
While Lean Six Sigma was built on Six Sigma’s original Define-Measure-Analyse-Improve-Control (DMAIC), and Define-Measure-Analyse-Design-Verify (DMADV) roadmaps, it is a data-driven, process-oriented continuous improvement approach that focuses on identifying and eliminating process defects, variation, and non-value-adding time to improve healthcare service efficiency and effectiveness.
Simultaneously, it helps improve process flow, utilization, flexibility, and service capability towards delivering greater value to patients and other healthcare beneficiaries.
There is an increasing interest in Lean Six Sigma by healthcare practitioners. While it offers both process and data lenses to examine problems towards a resolution roadmap, practitioners endorse it to be easy to learn and effective when applied.
We had opportunities to apply Lean Six Sigma in Indian hospitals. For example, a multi-specialty hospital in India that we deployed Lean Six Sigma suffered from a low patient satisfaction rate of about 78 per cent in the cardiology department.
The turnaround time (an average of 315 minutes, with a standard deviation of 24 minutes) was reported as a major contributor to patient dissatisfaction and identified as an opportunity for process improvement by the department’s management. Data analysis revealed a poor process capability to deliver services within the set objective of 210 minutes.
By applying the Lean Six Sigma toolkit, we were able to identify the root causes of the problem. Lack of scheduling, incomplete patient information, lack of test result alerts, lack of clarity in patients about the hospital layout, workstation downtime, delays from other appointments, and demand fluctuations were a few of the root causes.
Lean Six Sigma tools like Pareto analysis, Control charts, Value Stream Maps, and data analytics were used as part of the project.
The integrated mobile alert system, standardising the lab data reporting, revamping the scheduling system, eliminating non-value adding activities and process bottlenecks, staff training, etc., were a few improvements executed in the cardiology department.
Consequently, the turnaround time was reduced to 240 minutes, with a standard deviation of 9 minutes. The Lean Six Sigma project delivered an annual cost saving of about INR 3.4 million, increasing patient satisfaction to 91 per cent.
Further, it contributed to learning, excitement in the participating stakeholders towards a cultural change. Customer centricity, process orientation, data-driven decision making were a few learnings highlighted by the participants.
In another Indian hospital, the accuracy of the Medical Records Department was improved from 89 per cent to 97 per cent using Lean Six Sigma. Another example was reducing the turnaround time in a mobile hospital that provides free medical services to ~3000 villages in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, using Lean Six Sigma’ss DMADV methodology.
In another assignment, we noted a significant reduction in medical insurance claims from 1.5 per cent to 0.8 per cent. Here, by improving the process sigma value from 3.66 to 4.52, the healthcare firm realised a cost avoidance benefit of about INR 38 million.
An overview of research literature on Lean Six Sigma indicates that ~20 per cent of publications on Lean Six Sigma in services sectors are specific to healthcare. This shows an increasing interest in Lean Six Sigma by healthcare practitioners.
While it offers both process and data lenses to examine problems towards a resolution roadmap, practitioners endorse it to be easy to learn and effective when applied.
Thus, it will be a worthy future direction for healthcare professionals like doctors, administrators, lab personnel, and other clinical and non-clinical technicians to learn and apply Lean Six Sigma for continuous improvement.
Alongside management learning, it sets an agenda for total personnel participation towards building a continuous improvement culture (beyond individual projects), a critical gap to bridge, and a worthy opportunity to pursue in the healthcare space.
With digital automation, robotics, and information and communication technologies being applied faster in healthcare institutions, it is important for them to embark on the Lean Six Sigma journeys. As a pre-requisite to technology deployment, Lean Six Sigma would help hospitals and other healthcare institutions streamline their processes and improve them as deserving candidates for digitisation.
The writer is an Assistant Professor of Practice at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, India. He is a Lean Facilitator and Six Sigma Master Black Belt practitioner, and an Affiliate Faculty with the Max Institute of Healthcare Management (MIHM) at ISB.
Cleveland Clinic’s Patient Satisfaction Strategy: A Millennial-Friendly Experience Overhaul
If you want to improve the patient experience — and your patient satisfaction and HCAHPS scores — here’s a good place to start: Reconsider how your hospital or practice thinks about time. And get to work swapping a patient-centered approach to time for your provider-centered viewpoint.
To see this in action, try a quick phone call to Cleveland Clinic. Here’s precisely what you’ll hear, after just a bit of voice jail navigation:
“Thank you for calling Cleveland Clinic. Would you like to be seen today?”
And they mean it. They do “about a million” same-day appointments a year, according to James Merlino, MD, Cleveland Clinic’s Chief Experience Officer (CXO).
Now, doing a good job in healthcare does take time. Scans take time to read properly. Cultures take time to grow. Thoughtful diagnoses and effective discharges absolutely take time.
The last thing I want to do is turn your hospital or practice into the healthcare equivalent of a fast food joint.
But some of the wait times your patients suffer through don’t add anything to successful clinical outcomes. And the reason you’re making patients wait? Probably it’s partly because you’ve always done things this way, and everyone else in healthcare is making patients wait as well.
Well, you can’t use that last rationalization anymore. Not if you’ve been watching what Cleveland Clinic has been doing on the timeliness front.
Let’s go back to listening to Cleveland Clinic, and that mind-blowing greeting:
“Thank you for calling Cleveland Clinic. Would you like to be seen today?” (After 4PM the greeting rolls over to”Would you like to be seen tomorrow?”)
This is for real. According to Dr. Merlino,
“Anybody calling [Cleveland Clinic] for an appointment for any specialty can be seen today.”
Getting people in to see a doctor the same day they call is an extreme and extraordinary move by Cleveland Clinic to take patient satisfaction to a new level.
Which is something that’s come a long way since the bad old days, when their incoming CEO, Toby Cosgrove, would joke, “Patients come to us for high quality care– but they don’t like us very much. ” (Which wasn’t much of a joke, really. When Cosgrove took the reins at Cleveland Clinic in 2004, patient satisfaction was in the lowest 10 percent of the nation.)
An eye on the millennial generation of patients
While nobody of any age likes to wait, this commitment to speed comes partly from Cleveland Clinic’s eyes being trained specifically on the incoming millennial generation of patients. (Millennials are a crucial generation of customers for any business—including healthcare—to consider. They are 80 million strong in the U.S., making them larger than the baby boom, and much larger than Generation X, the generation that immediately preceded them. And their expectations are quite different, being the first generation to take the internet, and smartphones, entirely for granted. A historical reality which changes their perception of time, convenience, and more.)
A million same-day appointments
They pull this off… how? Well, the same-day appointment commitment required Cleveland Clinic to get through some operational hurdles. Actually, Dr. Merlino corrects me on this: “‘operational hurdles’ is an understatement.” An extraordinary amount of work has had to be put into “managing the flow and ensuring we have the capacity.”
The same-day appointment promise is also dependent on a sophisticated triage process.
In other words: I can’t just call up and say
“I have a headache. I want to see a neurosurgeon.”
Well, actually, I can call in and say that—and they’ll be ready to deal with it. Here’s what happens: I’m taken through a series of questions on the phone; depending on how I answer those questions, the Cleveland Clinic telephone agent will be able to determine whom I should see, and will ensure I get that appointment today.
Dr. Merlino:
“So, Micah, [in the example above] you may not see a neurosurgeon for your headache, but you may see somebody who is a headache specialist or you may need to talk to a nurse who can better triage what you need. But we will get you to the right provider at the right time.
“If you call and say, ‘Look, I was in the emergency department last night with a headache and they did a CAT scan and they say I have a brain tumor. I need to be seen by a neurosurgeon today,’ you will see that neurosurgeon today. If you call in with a headache [and] you say certain things which are warning signs—answering yes to ‘is this the worst headache you ever have in your life?’ is one — you will immediately be transferred to a nurse who will do a more assessment and then guide you to an emergency department.
If it’s just a garden variety headache, as determined by the agent’s triage questions, they’ll still “get you an appointment with somebody today who can help you with the headache.”
Speak the patients’ language, use the patients’ channels
The same-day appointment commitment isn’t the only time-bending patient satisfaction change Cleveland Clinic has introduced. Another one that struck me is their understanding that patients these days, especially but not only millennial patients, want to communicate with their healthcare providers through the same communication channels they use to run their social lives. Which is a theme I am seeing in every arena of business. Appointments via mobile, information via mobile, chat online, doctors (after HIPAA waivers) corresponding with patients via email. Using telepresence for followup care with homebound patients. and more.
All of which, if you think about it, are ways to stretch, bend, mitigate the effect of time on the patient experience. Emails are asynchronous: they don’t have to be read at the time the doctor wrote them, a fact that can make things more convenient for both parties. Online chat is immediate when you need it to be immediate, again reducing wait. Information on mobile apps (Mayo is another leader in this) is another time — and potentially life— saver as well.
—–
So what’s next on the speed front? Chief Experience Officer Merlino, who is also a practicing colorectal surgeon, jokes it might be, “Thank you for calling Cleveland Clinic. We’ve already solved your medical issue; is there anything else we can help with?”
Micah Solomon is a customer experience and patient satisfaction consultant, customer service keynote speaker, and author.
I trust this article has provided you with insight and approaches that can help you pinpoint those drivers that most strongly influence a patient’s willingness to recommend a hospital. If you are interested in learning more about using these methods, contact us at: TPMG Global® – Improving HCAHPS Scores and The Patient Experience
Using Six Sigma to Reduce Pressure Ulcers at a Hospital
Since 2001, Thibodaux Regional Medical Center (TRMC) in Louisiana has applied Six Sigma and change management methods to a range of clinical and operational issues. One project that clearly aligned with the hospital’s strategic plan was an initiative to reduce nosocomial or hospital-acquired pressure ulcers, because this is one of the key performance metrics indicating quality of care.
Although the pressure ulcer rate at the medical center was much better than the industry average, the continuous quality improvement data detected an increase between the last quarter of 2003 and the second quarter of 2004.
In October 2004, a Six Sigma project to address this issue was approved by the hospital’s senior executives. A team began to clarify the problem statement. Their vision was to be the “Skin Savers” by resolving issues leading to the development of nosocomial pressure ulcers. The project team included a Black Belt, enterostomal therapy registered nurse (ETRN), medical surgical RN, ICU RN, rehab RN and RN educator.
Scoping the Project
Through the scoping process, the team determined that inpatients with a length of stay longer than 72 hours would be included, while pediatric patients would be excluded. The project Y was defined as the nosocomial rate of Stage 2, 3 and 4 pressure ulcers calculated per 1,000 patient days. Targets were established to eliminate nosocomial Stage 3 and Stage 4 pressure ulcers and reduce Stage 2 pressure ulcers from 4.0 to less than 1.6 skin breaks per 1,000 patient days by the end of the second quarter of 2005.
The team developed a threats and opportunities matrix to help validate the need for change (Table 1). They encountered some initial resistance from staff, but were able to build acceptance as the project began to unfold.
| Table 1: Threats and Opportunities Matrix | ||
| Threat | Opportunity | |
| Short Term | Increase length of stay | Improve quality of care |
| Increase costs | Decrease medical complications to patient | |
| Increase medical complications to patient | ||
| Long Term | Decrease patient satisfaction | Improve preventative care measures |
| Increase morbidity rate | Improve hospital status/image | |
| Decrease physician satisfaction | Increase profitability | |
| Increase number of lawsuits | Improve customer satisfaction | |
| Decrease reimbursement | ||
| Loss of accreditation | ||
Measurement and Analysis
During the Measure phase, the team detailed the current process, including inputs and outputs. Using cause and effect tools, process steps having the greatest impact on the customer were identified as opportunities for improvement. The team also reviewed historical data and determined that overall process capability was acceptable, but that the sub-processes had a great deal of room for improvement. Improving these sub-processes would positively affect the overall process and further improve quality of care.
Measurement system analysis on the interpretation of the Braden Scale was performed to verify that results obtained by staff RNs were consistent with the results obtained by the enterostomal therapy RN, because this is the tool used to identify patients at risk of developing a pressure ulcer. This analysis indicated that the current process of individual interpretation was unreliable and would need to be standardized and re-evaluated during the course of the project.
A cause and effect matrix was constructed to rate the outputs of the process based on customer priorities and to rate the effect of the inputs on each output (Figure 1). The matrix identified areas in the process that have the most effect on the overall outcome, and consequently the areas that need to be focused on for improvement (Table 2).
The team identified several critical Xs affecting the process:
- Frequency of the Braden Scale – The Braden Scale is an assessment tool used to identify patients at risk of developing pressure ulcers. Policy dictates how frequently this assessment is performed.
- Heel protectors in use – Heel protectors are one of the basic preventative treatment measures taken to prevent pressure ulcers.
- Incontinence protocol followed – Protocol must be followed to prevent against constant moisture on the patient’s skin that can lead to a pressure ulcer.
- Proper bed – Special beds to relieve pressure on various parts of the body are used for high-risk patients as a preventative measure.
- Q2H (every two hours) turning – Rotating the patient’s body position every two hours is done to prevent development of pressure ulcers.
| Table 2: Data Analysis | ||||
|
Process |
Defects |
Opportunities |
% Defective |
Z Score |
|
Overall Process |
64 |
16,311 |
0.39 |
2.66 |
|
Braden Scale Frequency |
10 |
76 |
13.16 |
1.12 |
|
Proper Bed |
24 |
76 |
31.58 |
0.48 |
|
Q2H Turning |
49 |
76 |
64.47 |
-0.37 |
Data analysis revealed that the bed type was not a critical factor in the process, but the use of heel protectors, incontinence protocol compliance, and Q2H turning were critical to the process of preventing nosocomial pressure ulcers. The impact of the Braden Scale frequency of performance was not identified until further analysis was performed (Figure 2).
Evaluating data specific to at-risk patients, the team separated populations who developed nosocomial pressure ulcers from those who did not have skin breakdowns. The Braden Scale result at the time of inpatient admission from each population was analyzed to see the effect on development of a nosocomial pressure ulcer. One unexpected finding was that the admit Braden Scale result was higher for patients who develop nosocomial pressure ulcers than for those who do not develop them, showing that patients at risk are not being identified in a timely manner, thus delaying the initiation of necessary preventative measures.
The team then looked at defects for Braden Scale frequency of performance for each population of patients using a chi square test. They found the frequency of Braden Scale performance did have an effect on the development of nosocomial pressure ulcers. This was confirmed with binary logistic regression analysis (Table 3).
| Table 3: Binary Logistic Regression Analysis | ||||
| Process |
Coefficient |
Odds |
Probability |
Odds Ratio |
|
No Defects |
–0.5222 |
0.59 |
0.37 |
N/A |
|
Braden Scale Defects |
2.54322 |
7.55 |
0.88 |
12.72 |
|
Bed Defects |
1.56220 |
2.83 |
0.74 |
4.77 |
|
Q2 Turn Defects |
–2.16870 |
0.07 |
0.07 |
0.11 |
The most significant X is the Braden Scale frequency of performance. This analysis confirmed the need to increase the frequency of Braden Scale performance to identify at-risk patients.
Recommendations for Improvement
During the Improve phase, recommended changes were identified for each cause of failure on the FMEA with a risk priority number of greater than 200. Some of the recommendations include:
- Frequency of Braden Scale performance to be increased to every five days
- Braden Scale assessment in hospital information system (HIS) to include descriptions for each response
- Global competency test on interpretation of Braden Scale to be repeated annually
- Prompts to be added in HIS to initiate prevention/treatment protocols
- ET Accountability Tracking Tool to be issued for non-compliance with prevention and treatment protocols as needed
The Braden Scale R&R was repeated after improvements were made on the interpretation of results. The data revealed an exact match between RNs and the ETRN 40 percent of the time, and RNs were within the acceptable limits (+/– 2) 80 percent of the time. Standard deviation was 1.9, placing the results within the specification limits. The data indicated that the RNs tend to interpret results slightly lower than the ETRN, which is a better side to err on because lower Braden Scale results identify patients at risk of developing pressure ulcers.
The Control Phase
Another round of data collection began during the Control phase to demonstrate the impact of the improvements that had been implemented. A formal control plan was developed to ensure that improvements would be sustained over time, and the project was turned over to the process owner with follow-up issues documented in the Project Transition Action Plan.
The team implemented multiple improvements, including compilation of a document concerning expectations for skin assessment with input from nursing and staff. They also gave a global competency test on interpretation of the Braden Scale, which will be repeated annually. The Braden Scale frequency was increased to five days, and they corrected the HIS calculation to trigger clinical alerts for repeat of the Braden Scale. Prompts were added for initiating the Braden Scale, and monthly chart audits were developed for documentation of Q2H turning. A turning schedule was posted in patient rooms to identify need and document results of Q2H turning of patient. Additional solutions included the following:
- ETRN to attend RN orientation to discuss skin issues
- Revise treatment protocol to be more detailed
- Wound care products to be reorganized on units
- Unit educators to address skin issues during annual competency testing
- CNA and RN to report at shift change to identify patients with skin issues
- Task list to be created for CNAs
- ET accountability tracking tool to be issued for non-compliance with prevention and treatment protocols as needed
Results and Recognition
Since this was a quality-focused project, the benefits are measured in cost avoidance and an overall improved quality of care. A 60 percent reduction in the overall nosocomial pressure ulcer rate resulted in an annual cost avoidance of approximately $300,000.
To make sure their initiatives are producing a positive impact on the patient care environment, the hospital continuously measures patient and employee satisfaction through Press Ganey. Inpatient satisfaction is consistently ranked in the 99th percentile and employee satisfaction in the 97th percentile. TRMC also has received recognition in the industry for their achievements, including the Louisiana Performance Excellence Award for Quality Leadership (Baldrige criteria), Studer Firestarter Award and Press Ganey Excellence Award.
“This project is a perfect example of the need to verify underlying causes using valid data, rather than trusting your instincts alone,” said Sheri Eschete, Black Belt and leader of the pressure ulcer project at TRMC. “Six Sigma provided us with the tools to get to the real problem so that we could make the right improvements. There had been a perception that not turning the patients often enough was the issue, but the data revealed that it was really the frequency of the Braden Scale. Leveraging the data helped us to convince others and implement appropriate changes.”
The nosocomial pressure ulcer rate is monitored monthly as one of the patient-focused outcome indicators of quality care. The results are maintained on the performance improvement dashboard (Figures 3 and 4).
Learn more about lean six sigma in healthcare : Six Sigma Master Class – Improving Healthcare Processes
How to Use Value Stream Maps in Healthcare
Carly Barry 27 February, 2013
While value stream mapping, or VSM, is a key tool used in many Lean Six Sigma projects for manufacturing, it’s also widely used in healthcare.
Value stream mapping can help you map, visualize, and understand the flow of patients, materials (e.g., bags of screened blood or plasma), and information. The “value stream” is all of the actions required to complete a particular process, and the goal of VSM is to identify improvements that can be made to reduce waste (e.g., patient wait times).
How is VSM applied to healthcare?
When used within healthcare, one obvious application for VSM is mapping a patient’s path to treatment to improve service and minimize delays.
To accurately map a system, obtaining high-quality, reliable data about the flow of information and the time a patient spends at or between steps is key. Accurately timing process steps and using multi-departmental teams is essential to obtain a true picture of what’s going on.
To map a patient’s path to treatment, a current state map can be created in a VSM tool (we offer a powerful one in Companion by Minitab) to act as a baseline and to identify areas for improvement:
In this example, the first step a patient takes is to visit his general physician (abbrev. “GP” above), and this is represented as a rectangular process shape in the VSM. The time the patient spends at this step can be broken down into value-added (“VA”) and non value-added (“NVA”) cycle times. VA is time the customer is willing to pay for: that is, the 20 minutes spent consulting with the GP. NVA is the time the customer is not willing to pay for, i.e., the 20 minutes spent in the waiting room before the appointment.
The dotted line arrow between process steps is called a push arrow. This shows that once a patient completes a step, they are “pushed” to the next step. This is inefficient, and a more efficient process can be designed by changing push steps to continuous flow or “pull” steps. The yellow triangles indicate the time a patient spends waiting for the next process. These steps are a non-value added action for the patient.
While VSM can certainly be done by-hand on paper, using computer-based tools like those in Quality Companion makes the process a lot easier. For example, Quality Companion automatically calculates and displays a timeline underneath the VSM, which adds up the total time to go through the entire system (aka “lead time”) and displays summary information.
By identifying all of the steps, you can start to map the whole process out, moving from left to right. Once you have mapped out the entire system, an ideal future state map can be created, and possibly a series of future states in between. These can identify areas for improvement, and once implemented, they can become the “new” current state map as part of an iterative quality improvement process.
How do you improve the current state map?
When looking for areas of improvement, try to focus on changes to improve the flow of patients through the process. Continuous flow is the ideal and moves patients through the system without them having to wait. However, continuous flow is not always possible, so instead other changes might be introduced—such as first-in first-out (FIFO).
Also be sure to take a look at the takt time, which can help you decipher the pace of customer demand. In this case, takt time can be interpreted as the number of patients that can be treated per unit of time. Quality Companion will calculate takt time automatically.
Once you have completed the current and future state maps, you can compare the two, quantify improvement opportunities, and look at how to implement the changes. In this example, the triage and sort/appointment steps might be combined so that fewer visits to the hospital were required by the patient and they receive treatment faster.
To see another example value stream mapping, check out this video that features a scenario from Companion’s extensive help system:
Learn more about lean six sigma in healthcare : Six Sigma Master Class – Improving Healthcare Processes
Congratulations Felicia Sadler on becoming a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt!
1/07/2016 For Immediate Release – Phoenix, Arizona * United States
TPMG would like to congratulate Felicia Sadler for successfully completing the Lean Six Sigma Excellence in Healthcare Delivery Black Belt Certification program and earning her lean six sigma black belt! She successfully completed a rigorous 16 unit – 65 lesson online blended lean six sigma black belt workshop by passing the certification examination with distinction. In addition, she service as a Malcolm Baldrige examiner on the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence Board of Examiners. Ms. Sadler was selected to serve on a Level 4 team which evaluated an applicant from the healthcare sector. As a member of the team she:
- Conducted an independent review of the written application addressing all 17 items of the Criteria for Performance Excellence.
- Consolidated findings from Independent Review for assigned items during the Consensus Review stage.
- Participated in Consensus Meetings to reach agreement on the organization’s strengths and opportunities for improvement to verify/clarify during site visit.
- Participated in a 3-day Site Visit at the applicant’s facility, where the team interviewed staff, reviewed documents, and toured facilities.
- Participated in post-site visit meeting to review findings, and finalize feedback comments.
Congratulations Felicia!
Felecia is Vice President of Quality and Performance at Prophecy Healthcare. She holds a BSN in Nursing from South University and an MJ in Health Law from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Felicia has over 25 years of successful experience as a nurse, clinical educator and healthcare administrator.
The Performance Management Group’s Lean Six Sigma Excellence in Healthcare Delivery Black Belt Certification Program is specifically designed for professionals who work for healthcare clinics, hospitals and systems. TPMG has been certifying green belts and black belts for more than 15 years. The company provides lean six sigma certification on-site, online, and on-campus (at the University of Phoenix) nationwide. For more information regarding lean six sigma training, certification and consulting – contact TPMG llc at 623.643.9837 or logon to www.helpingmakeithappen.com.
Congratulations Kathleen Harland on becoming a Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt!
8/27/2015 For Immediate Release – Phoenix, Arizona * United States
TPMG would like to congratulate Kathleen Harlan for successfully completing the Lean Six Sigma Excellence in Healthcare Delivery Green Belt Certification program and earning her lean six sigma green belt! She successfully completed a rigorous 10 unit – 45 lesson online lean six sigma green belt workshop by passing the certification examination with distinction. This accomplishment acknowledges she has fulfilled the requirements for the green belt program of study and, from this day forward, is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. By completing this distinctive course, she is qualified and authorized to implement lean applications and performance management systems. Congratulations Kathy!
Kathy is Sr. Director Standardization Programs at Novation (VHA, UHC, CHA) and has more than 15 years experience in the healthcare industry. She holds a B.Sci. in Business Administration from The University of Texas at Dallas and an MBA from The University of Texas at Arlington.
The Performance Management Group’s Lean Six Sigma Excellence in Healthcare Delivery Green Belt Certification Program is specifically designed for professionals who work for healthcare clinics, hospitals and systems. TPMG has been certifying green belts and black belts for more than 15 years. The company provides lean six sigma certification on-site, online, and on-campus (at the University of Phoenix) nationwide. For more information regarding lean six sigma training, certification and consulting – contact TPMG llc at 623.643.9837 or logon to www.helpingmakeithappen.com.
Congratulations John Elliott on becoming a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt!
8/27/2015 For Immediate Release – Phoenix, Arizona * United States
TPMG would like to congratulate John P. Elliott for successfully completing the Lean Six Sigma Excellence in Healthcare Delivery Black Belt Certification program and earning his lean six sigma black belt! He successfully completed a rigorous 16 unit – 65 lesson online blended lean six sigma black belt workshop by passing the certification examination with distinction. The goal of Johns’s lean six sigma black belt project was to increase the utilization of his system’s infusion center. His black belt project successfully realized a 47% increase in utilization along with more than an 80% increase in daily revenue. To alleviate the staff of these impediments, the team implemented several solutions, primarily in the scheduling and communication areas. The solutions currently in place had a significant impact on Chair Turns, Net Profit, and Chair Utilization. Congratulations John!
John is a Director of Healthcare Engineering at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. He holds a B.Sci. Industrial Engineering from Mississippi State University and a Masters Degree in Hospital Administration from Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. John has over 25 years of successful experience in both large NFP and FP healthcare systems, inclusive of healthcare financial and operational management consulting and is also a Fellow for American College of Healthcare Executives
The Performance Management Group’s Lean Six Sigma Excellence in Healthcare Delivery Black Belt Certification Program is specifically designed for professionals who work for healthcare clinics, hospitals and systems. TPMG has been certifying green belts and black belts for more than 15 years. The company provides lean six sigma certification on-site, online, and on-campus (at the University of Phoenix) nationwide. For more information regarding lean six sigma training, certification and consulting – contact TPMG llc at 623.643.9837 or logon to www.helpingmakeithappen.com.
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We Did It!
We successfully established a high quality and effective lean healthcare program in our organization at 30% of the traditional consulting cost.
Our Program Consists of:
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1. Established Lean 6σ vision and strategy
2. Defined and facilitated governance model
3. Managed DMAIC and Kaizen projects (average project savings of $223k per year)
4. Portfolio management, project evaluation and prioritization system
5. Systematic project reporting, updating and communication
6. Trained and certified “home grown” black belts, green belts and leaders
Learn about how we did it with TPMG! Schedule a complimentary/no obligation analysis or advisory session with a TPMG faculty member or performance manager. Click Here!
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Lean Healthcare Professional Services
Lean Healthcare – We Did It!
We Did It!!!!
We successfully established a high quality and effective lean healthcare program in our organization at 30% of the traditional consulting cost. Learn about how we did it with TPMG!
Our Program Consists of:
Lean 6σ Healthcare Program Office
1. Established Lean 6σ vision and strategy
2. Defined and facilitated governance model
3. Managed DMAIC and Kaizen projects (average project savings of $223k per year)
4. Portfolio management, project evaluation and prioritization system
5. Systematic project reporting, updating and communication
6. Trained and certified “home grown” black belts, green belts and leaders
Schedule a complimentary/no obligation analysis or advisory session with a TPMG faculty member or performance manager. Click Here!
Download a Lean Transformation in Healthcare Service Description – Click Here!
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We Did It!!!!
We successfully established a high quality and effective lean healthcare program in our organization at 30% of the traditional consulting cost. Learn about how we did it with TPMG!
Our Program Consists of:
Lean 6σ Healthcare Program Office
1. Established Lean 6σ vision and strategy
2. Defined and facilitated governance model
3. Managed DMAIC and Kaizen projects (average project savings of $223k per year)
4. Portfolio management, project evaluation and prioritization system
5. Systematic project reporting, updating and communication
6. Trained and certified “home grown” black belts, green belts and leaders
Learn how we benefited from our lean healthcare program. Schedule a complimentary/no obligation analysis or advisory session with a TPMG faculty member or performance manager. Click Here!
Download a Lean Transformation in Healthcare Service Description – Click Here!
Lean Transformation in Healthcare 