Lean Healthcare
Lean Six Sigma tools and teachings for the medical industry
Commonalities
between Lean Healthcare and Lean Manufacturing
- 99% of
Lean Healthcare definitions, tools, and teachings can be applied to both a Lean
Manufacturing and Lean Healthcare
environment without any modification,
IF (and this is the big stumbling block)...
IF Lean authors, teachers, and practitioners use terminology that does not assume that the thing being processed is a physical inventory item - Lean management systems are the same
- The lean system for visual management is the same
(even though the specific visual controls vary greatly even within any given organization) - The process for value stream mapping is the same for home-builder, a
hotel, or a hospital
(See step-by-step instructions in the Help page on our free trial value stream mapping template) - Unlike Lean Office...
Lean Healthcare and Lean Manufacturing both focus on the central middle segment of the value stream. - A Lean Healthcare value stream is just as likely as a manufacturer to employ lean concepts such as kanbans, heijunka, jidoka, kaizen, and the couple dozen new words for process improvement that happen to be Japanese words because Henry Ford didn't think of them first. Many or most Lean teachings come from the Toyota Production System - which is why it is common for Lean practitioners to assume that the thing being processed is a physical inventory item (like a car). But it doesn't have to be. Literally 99% of Lean concepts apply to ANY industry.
Top Differences
between Lean Healthcare and Lean Manufacturing
- If the process you are optimizing does not deal with inventory, then wherever you see the word "inventory" - substitute either the word "patient", or "the thing being processed"
- In addition to inventory... buffer and safety resources are more likely to
also include:
- Overtime
- Cross-training and departmental borrowing
- Temporaries
- Outsourcing
- Pre-trained workers available as needed (seasonal, retirees...)
- Pre-negotiated availability of extra rooms/beds
- Contingency plans
- Automation
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Lean Tools for the Medical Industry
Almost ANY Lean or Six Sigma tool can be creatively used in ANY industry.
Some of the most popular six sigma and lean tools used most frequently for lean healthcare include:
Lean Healthcare gotcha's
- Don't invent your own vocabulary.
Just because you sometimes need to substitute the words "patient" or "the thing being processed" when you see the word "inventory" doesn't mean that it is a good idea to start inventing your own (non-Japanese) words for everything else you learn about Lean.
You will make it a LOT easier on your people if you teach them the same Lean definitions that are used in almost every Lean book that has ever been printed - instead of trying to "translate" for them by inventing your own vocabulary.
Standard lean tools can still incorporate Evidence Based Outcomes.
The standard Results Metrics can be used to monitor any results - including Hospital Core Measures. - Don't over-customize your templates too soon. Just because these Excel templates are so easy to personalize doesn't mean you should. The more that your people learn about how to apply the right lean six sigma tools and methods, the less different you will find that you really are. If you find yourself wanting to personalize a template, first consider that maybe you might be trying to use the wrong tool for the problem you're trying to solve.
Use the Tool Matrix to find the right tool. Or call us for help. - Watch out for the Common Pitfalls that everyone else needs to watch for too.
