How Lean Can You Go? Eliminate These Eight Wastes in Healthcare

Many healthcare professionals agree that healthcare organizations could do a better job with the patient experience. Faulty processes are often to blame for long wait time; and misplaced patient reports and a slew of other reasons that can make for an unpleasant experience. Healthcare organizations must drill down on their process inefficiencies. This is a difficult process, but it is achievable.

In this Profit through Process podcast, Genna Weiss of Six Sigma IQ speaks with Herb Robbins, President and CEO of Robbins International, a consulting firm that provides Lean Business and Six Sigma services to manufacturing, healthcare, and service organizations. Robbins has come up with the acronym HOSPITAL, which identifies the eight "wastes" or "inefficiencies" in healthcare: Halting, Overproducing, Slips, Processing, Inventory, Transportation, Action and Lack of Employee Engagement. He provides specific examples of how healthcare organizations can begin to leverage it for breakthrough process improvement.

You will hear how your healthcare organization can use Lean to spot these inefficiencies and how this process improvement methodology can develop your organization’s processes once these inefficiencies have been identified. Robbins also provides tips for handling challenges unique to healthcare organizations and ways for ensuring that your organization sustains the gains of its Lean initiatives.