Introduction to Lean: 𝓛𝓮𝓪𝓷 𝓕𝓸𝓬𝓾𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓣𝓻𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰

Healthcare Wastes Explained In a healthcare context, value is a combination of what is valued by patients within a care pathway and the achievement of appropriate health outcomes (linked to providing evidence-based care). Any activity that does not contribute to this value can be classified as waste. The concepts of value and waste are central to the Lean methodology that has been adapted from its manufacturing origins and applied successfully to the context of healthcare improvement in a number of organizations. The eight wastes approach can help to achieve improvement in healthcare services by enabling staff to examine their own workplace and eliminate activities that do not add value, ie wasteful activities. This approach can improve the patient experience and release time that frontline staff can reinvest in service provision. Considering the eight wastes can be a useful exercise within any service improvement effort and will play a significant part if a wider Lean methodology is b...

Lean Process This process will assist you in leading, facilitating, and mentoring your process improvement team. Step 1: Define value from the patient's perspective. Identifying the area to investigate Creating a sense of urgency Starting the charter Getting a champion Agreeing on the scope with the champion Assembling the core project team Developing a simple SIPOC map Step 2: Map the value stream A value stream is an end-to-end process that flows horizontally through an organization to provide value to a client, patient, or customer.  To identify issues and constraints in a process, create a visualization of the value stream and where the issues and bottlenecks are believed to occur. Using a value stream map can help the team visually identify areas to focus on, and which issues and constraints have the greatest impact on the value stream's outcomes. Horizontally value stream mapping of how an entity moves end-to-end through an organization can offer many benefits beyond th...

  Introduction to Lean Healthcare What is Lean? Set of management practices to improve efficiency and effectiveness by eliminating waste. The core principle of lean is to reduce and eliminate non-value adding activities and waste. Benefits of Lean in Healthcare: Improve quality of care and reduce errors  Controlling costs (for patient and organization) Eliminating waste as perceived by the patient, thereby maximizing quality and safety for the patient. All healthcare staff become focused on finding better ways to take care of patients Decreasing unacceptable rates of preventable care-associated patient injuries and deaths.