Six Sigma at Hospital - DMAIC example, Healthcare DMAIC example

Summary

The video discusses improvements made at a hospital in Mania City after expanding its facilities, addressing inefficiencies in patient admission and stay termination processes. The hospital increased its capacity from 1,000 to 1,500 beds, but the outdated processes caused delays, overtime, and frustration. Through a Six Sigma approach, the hospital team redesigned the patient flow, improved data entry, and optimized storage systems, reducing waiting times and staff workload. With various technology upgrades and operational adjustments, waiting times were cut, leading to significant improvements in patient satisfaction. The project is now in its control phase, with plans for further enhancements.

Takeaways

• 😀 The expansion of Mania Hospital increased its capacity from 1,000 to 1,500 beds, but it neglected to review the patient admission and stay termination processes.
• 😀 Overworked admission employees and a lack of space for patient belongings were major pain points in the previous process setup.
• 😀 The goal was set to reduce patient waiting times to a maximum of 20 minutes, which was seen as crucial by hospital management.
• 😀 A SIPOC analysis was performed to understand the process boundaries, helping the team focus on key improvements.
• 😀 Data analysis revealed that the highest patient waiting times occurred between 10 AM and 2 PM, with an average wait time of 2 hours for patients.
• 😀 Quick wins were achieved by redistributing patient arrivals and departures, which helped to reduce waiting times for patients leaving the hospital to 20 minutes.
• 😀 A major challenge was finding and retrieving personal belongings, which took an average of 10 minutes. This was addressed by redesigning the storage system and introducing a computerized tracking system.
• 😀 The introduction of rectangular storage boxes and redesigned racks saved significant space and improved the efficiency of locating patient belongings.
• 😀 A user-friendly computer system allowed patients to reserve admission times and input their data electronically, reducing manual data entry by 60%.
• 😀 Waiting times were reduced to 15 minutes on average for admission, with noon peaks decreasing from 2 hours to just 30 minutes.
• 😀 The team reduced the number of admission employees from 7 to 4 by optimizing workflows, increasing efficiency, and improving resource allocation.
• 😀 A second project phase is planned to stabilize the changes, address long-term tasks, and create performance reports for hospital management.

Q & A

What was the main issue faced by the hospital after the building extension?

The main issue was that the hospital's admission and stay termination processes were not updated to accommodate the increased capacity, resulting in long waiting times and inefficiencies for both patients and employees.

What was the hospital management's primary goal for improving the processes?

The primary goal was to reduce the waiting time to a maximum of 20 minutes, which would improve the patient experience and operational efficiency.

What process improvement tools did the team use to understand and analyze the issues?

The team used SIPOC diagrams and fishbone diagrams to map out and analyze both the admission and stay termination processes, helping to identify improvement opportunities.

What was the most significant challenge during the patient discharge process?

The biggest challenge during the discharge process was the difficulty in finding personal belongings boxes, which took about 10 minutes on average to locate.

How did the hospital team improve the organization of the personal belongings storage system?

The team redesigned the storage boxes from cubic to rectangular, decreasing their height to better fit average item volumes, which halved the space required. Additionally, racks were redesigned to fit these new boxes, and each box location was labeled with a unique code for easier tracking.

What changes were made to improve the data entry process?

A user-friendly computer system was installed, allowing patients to reserve their admission and discharge times online, reducing the need for manual data entry. Two computers were also installed in the waiting room for patients to enter their data independently, reducing manual entry by 60%.

How did the team manage peak waiting times during the day?

The team implemented a temporary agreement between departments to stagger patient departures, which helped distribute patient flow more evenly throughout the day, reducing peak waiting times.

What was the result of these process improvements in terms of waiting times?

The waiting time for patient discharge was reduced to a maximum of 20 minutes, while the average waiting time for admission was reduced to 15 minutes. The project also helped decrease the noon peak from 2 hours to 30 minutes.

What long-term changes are planned after the project's stabilization?

The second phase of the project will involve further stabilizing the current changes, fine-tuning long-term tasks, and ensuring that all changes are fully integrated. Additionally, performance reports and documentation reflecting ISO requirements will be maintained.

How did the project affect staffing levels in the hospital?

As a result of process improvements, the number of staff required for the admission department was reduced from seven to four employees, with two employees working each shift (morning and afternoon).