Hospital administrators look to Lean Six Sigma to improve quality.
It is hard to imagine that a hospital room would have anything in common with an auto manufacturing plant, but new management practices aimed at reducing waste and eliminating inconsistency are tying both of these settings together.
UF Health Jacksonville provides Lean Six Sigma certifications to administrators and staff through the Quality and Performance Improvement department. The program works to enhance production by creating standardized protocols, cutting inefficiencies and developing a culture of continuous improvement by redesigning business and clinical processes.
“Everyone has processes. The question is do you know if your process is working,” said Susan Hendrickson, division director of Quality and Performance Improvement. “Lean Six Sigma encourages you to find what’s not working, streamline your procedures and deliver better service, often at a lower cost. The methodology can be applied to everything from reducing patient wait times to better managing surgical supplies.”
The Lean approach was developed by Toyota Motor Corp. as part of the automaker’s proficient Toyota Production System. Six Sigma is a problem-solving technique focused primarily on reducing process variation, or defects. Hendrickson said by standardizing processes, not only can UF Health serve more people, it can also enhance patient-centered care.
“What time is breakfast? Is it coming at 6 a.m., 9 a.m. or between 6 and 9 a.m.? A patient may want an exact time so they know when to take their shower,” Hendrickson said. “What time does the doctor make rounds? A patient may need to know because their family wants to be there to ask questions. Providing this level of detail can help ease a patient’s anxiety.”
Lean Six Sigma is available for all employees, but primarily targets those in management positions. Anyone interested in signing up must complete a four-hour introductory course on HealthStream. The class is taught by instructors from Quality and Performance Improvement and is offered four times a year.
The three-day advanced yellow-belt course is taught on campus by the Florida Sterling Council. This level is offered at least twice a year. The green-belt certification course is also taught by the Florida Sterling Council on campus and takes at least six months to complete. Participants are divided into groups and are assigned one of five projects. The course consists of four days of training and several months of group work. The course concludes with a final presentation from each group about their findings.
“You have to identify the problem and develop a process to get the solution,” Hendrickson said. “This level is very data-driven, and the key is using that data to monitor the process to ensure you obtain the desired results.”
Lean Six Sigma has been used in several areas at UF Health Jacksonville and was instrumental in improving many patient safety and quality scores. Departments may be able to assist with the cost of the courses. If they cannot, employees can still participate, but must pay for the certifications themselves and be approved for the time off required to complete them.
“The overall goal is to improve patient satisfaction, provide greater access to physicians, promote greater safety and quality, and increase staff satisfaction, efficiency and productivity throughout the organization,” Hendrickson said.