University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) announces in their Iowa News-Iowa City Press-Citizen that they are looking at Lean Six Sigma for operational efficiency and more process improvement.
Sabi Singh, the hospital’s director of operational improvement, started implementing a “lean sigma” philosophy in 2005. The goal was to break down processes, eliminate waste, and create more productive systems to improve hospital standards and patient satisfaction.
As the UIHC works toward Lean Sigma, they were able to realize the following:
- Discovered the cause of patient log jams causing delays and wait time
- Implement the front-loaded scheduling
- It in turn increased the morning load of appointments
- Wait time was reduced to 91% or on average a three minute wait
- Renewed interest in quality and safety standards
- An IowaCare update
- A hospital safety program update
- A positive finance report showing some revenue of 2% ahead of budget
These are improvements that customer-patients would want to experience anytime!
