Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A hospital had accumulated $1.5 million in bad debt and called upon Lean Six Sigma experts to help. Working with a health care billing team, the hospital identified problems in the billing cycle and implemented solutions. One year later, the hospital had positive operating margin cash flow, with an increase of 20% from all Lean Six Sigma projects combined.
Lean Six Sigma methodologies make delivering and planning for high-quality care possible, even in the face of great change. Further, these practices prepare hospitals and staff for the coming changes while incorporating existing requirements from Medicare/Medicaid, ACO, avoidable adverse events, and much more.
Planning for Healthcares Unknown Future WillowTree Advisors, LLC 2013 2
Mapping the Value Stream Working with Lean Six Sigma experts, the teams developed a Value Stream Map to detail the steps involved in registering a patient, from arriving in the ER to mailing the final bill for services. The Value Stream Map served as a point of reference, helping the teams identify waste, long wait times, and defects in their workflow. They learned the causes of waste were 1) insufficient software training and 2) no established standard operating procedure for entering patient data into the software program. A Clear Solution The hospital team worked with Lean Six Sigma Experts, as well as the hospitals technology staff, to create an action plan for developing a software training curriculum and standard operating procedures for employees to follow during registration, billing, and other patient data entries. Measurable Results Minutes of rework were reduced by 75% and the number of defects was reduced more than threefold. As a direct result of these Lean Six Sigma improvements, the hospital saved more than $175,000 in soft dollars or productivity. Further, updates to medical records, which used to take three days, now took only one. This greatly improved quality of care for patients who required follow-up treatment after the ER. This project also led to the formation of a software information team of nurses to address changing medical codes and software applications on a regular basis.
Planning for Healthcares Unknown Future WillowTree Advisors, LLC 2013 3
Typically, Lean Six Sigma projects yield between three and ten times the health care providers investment, as well as a 50% improvement in the quality of care.
I didnt think at my age that I could be shocked, but WillowTree Advisors has shocked me out of my paradigm. - Chief Operating Officer
To learn more about Lean Six Sigma Health Care Projects, contact Kathryn Douglass at (888) 998-0008 or visit www.willowtreeadvisors.com.