Vative HealthCare: Hospitals gain sustainable benefits in innovation and efficiencies from lean methodology

By ahhb
Friday, 19 December, 2014

‘Lean’ methodology and tools, once the preserve of manufacturing companies such as Toyota, have gained traction in the health sector over the past decade as more hospitals make significant gains in innovation, efficiency and patient engagement through the Lean culture of continuous improvement.

“The most important thing we do for clients is to build a capability for Lean thinking at every level of their organisation,” says Karen Barker, Director of Lean consultants Vative Healthcare, who have advised a wide range of clients including St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, Healthscope, Peninsula Health and Maryborough District Health Service.
“Our program ensures staff understand the continuous improvement methodology, so change is driven from the bottom up as well as top down. We give frontline people the problem solving tools, and with leadership support they can achieve significant, sustainable gains in areas including clinical, non-clinical, environment and national standards in safety and quality.”
Continuous improvement for St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne - St George’s Health Service
St George’s Health Service tackled a number of projects with Vative, including morning to afternoon clinical handover, patient engagement, falls prevention and after-hours admission. Fifteen staff participated in a 10-month Lean improvement program, with all achieving Lean certificates or diplomas following competency-based training. Project outcomes included:

Reducing after hours admissions processing from 37 minutes to 13 minutes, leading to a 100% reduction in funding errors

Reducing standardised after hours clerical processes from six to two

Reducing overall AM to PM nursing handover time by approximately 75% and achieving 100% patient engagement in the bedside handover process.

“The qualitative results were just as important, with the cultural morale survey showing improvements in company and team communication, involvement, empowerment, rewards recognition, satisfaction and OH&S,” Ms Barker says.
“Staff feedback following the program showed they felt very positive about their own professional development, the learning environment, organisational benefits, improved efficiency, the results from their projects and what they saw as the ‘huge changes’ achieved.”
Peninsula Health cuts surgical start time delays by 37%
Two years ago, Peninsula Health Surgical Services engaged with Vative to help it address delays in first case surgery start times.
“We were able to achieve a 37% reduction in delays to first case surgical start time and an 11% improvement in patient arrival times,” Ms Barker says. “Increased patient satisfaction resulted from clear written and verbal instructions, and good staff alignment was achieved in the definition of surgical start time.
” Staff workshops and surveys, process audits and value stream and process mapping were conducted. A new Surgical Start Time Team Agreement clearly set out roles, responsibilities and patient access time for each discipline, while a journey board developed by staff showed patient progress at a glance.
Pre-admission processes were reviewed, resulting in improvements to information sent to patients, a day-prior phone call and admission checklists to reduce delays on arrival. Hospital access and signage was reviewed, and admission times staggered to smooth admission throughput.
“Two years later, Peninsula Health has given very positive feedback and reports that improvements achieved through Lean have been sustained,” Ms Barker says.
Vative Healthcare achieves significant organisational improvements through solutions which are simple, realistic and highly effective. Our purpose is to assist organisations to develop a sustainable legacy and ‘make a difference’ for their patients.