Page 118 - Lean six sigma demystified

Chapter 3 a Fa S ter Ho S pita L in Five D ay S 97

• CT tech travel to requisition printer (6480 ft per day; even walking fast,
that’s probably 30 minutes a day)
• Transporter availability and travel (432 ft per day)

After analysis of these various issues, the improvement team implemented
several countermeasures.

• Relocated requisition printer in between the two CTs, saving over
6000 ft per day of unnecessary travel. (Hint: Move machines closer to
the user.)

• Dedicated patient transporter.
• Excel-based schedule maintained in imaging and viewable by all nursing
units. This reduced phone calls and cancellations due to improper patient
prep or availability.

• Instead of a rigid schedule with no room for stat orders, a pull system
adjusted the patient transport and scan to accommodate just-in-time
stat scans.

• Contrast preparation was reassigned to the evening shift, refrigerated and
delivered during the transporter’s morning run for inpatients.

• One CT was dedicated to complex procedures, and the second was dedi-
cated to routine high-volume procedures to maximize patient flow.

• Staffing was adjusted to demand.
The average TAT fell from 20.7 to 6.45 hours, resulting in

• 200 additional inpatient scans per month

• 60 additional outpatient scans per month
• $375,000 in additional revenue
• cancellations due to improper prep dropping from 30.6% to 22.7%

Similarly, St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital in Pontiac, Michigan, used
Lean to redesign the lab, radiology, and supply processes, reducing turnaround
time by 50% in radiology.
In 2004, Newton-Wellesley Hospital had radiology wait times of 45 minutes
or more. Before buying another X-ray machine, they did a little Lean analysis:
Technicians were walking around too much, “collecting paperwork, ferrying
patients to changing rooms, calling doctors to double-check orders.” A few simple
changes cut turnaround times to 25 minutes.