{"71867":{"#nid":"71867","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Lean Techniques Boost Efficiency at Rural Hospital","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe emergency department at Meadows Regional Medical Center in rural Vidalia, Ga., has achieved what would make most hospitals across the nation envious: a 44 percent reduction in average length of stay per patient, a 10 percent boost in patients served and a 92 percent patient satisfaction rate. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe secret? With assistance from the Georgia Institute of Technology, the hospital implemented lean manufacturing principles, a process management philosophy derived mostly from the Toyota Production System and known for reducing wasted time and effort in manufacturing.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt one point, the average length of stay for Meadows\u0027 emergency department patients exceeded 200 minutes, which was unacceptable to the hospital\u0027s management.  \u0022We had issues with bottlenecking, turnaround times, decreased satisfaction and overworked nurses,\u0022 recalled Peggy Fountain, director of the emergency department at Meadows.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith funding from the Georgia Rural Economic Development Center (GREDC), lean specialists with Georgia Tech\u0027s Enterprise Innovation Institute began the hospital\u0027s transformation in June 2005.  They conducted a three-day lean overview workshop and value-stream mapping event with Meadows\u0027 emergency department. In addition to Fountain and CEO Alan Kent, workshop participants included the emergency room nursing staff, an emergency room physician, the radiology director, laboratory manager and business office staff.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe lean team at Meadows developed 44 action items for reducing the time needed to admit, treat and discharge non-critical ER patients. Forty-one percent of the items were determined to be low-cost and high-impact. The ideas fell into one of seven categories: 5S and visual controls, cross-training, equipment, hospital procedures, patient information, general procedures and staffing. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E5S - which stands for sort, straighten, shine, systemize and sustain - is a way of organizing and managing the workspace to improve morale and efficiency.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EChanges made by the hospital included standardizing mobile supply stations; labeling racks, trays and drawers; installing a color-coded flag system outside patient rooms; issuing patients red allergy armbands to alert medical staff; and adding a holding area for patients who need to see a doctor but who don\u0027t need a room. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe hospital also implemented the T System, a software program that shows staff who is in the waiting room, who needs an X-ray and who can be put into a room or a wheelchair. The T System also documents length of stay, lab tests ordered, physician and nurse assigned to the patient and discharge disposition, as well as patient name, room number and prior ER visits, if applicable. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond the more visible improvements, Fountain says emergency room employees are now more empowered to take initiative and make changes that could positively impact their work process - a hallmark of the lean system.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Staff members realize that it\u0027s not just the ER\u0027s problem - it\u0027s everyone\u0027s problem. Whatever we can do to improve the process makes everyone\u0027s job easier,\u0022 Fountain said.\t\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMeadows\u0027 management plans on utilizing lean health care principles when it builds a new, state-of-the-art hospital. The original facility, built in 1963, employs 600 people and operates 87 beds, as well as a 35-bed nursing home, an eight-bed outpatient facility, and one part-time and two full-time operating rooms.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We want to design the new facility using lean processes before architects draw up the building,\u0022 said Kent, who also plans to incorporate online patient registration, self check-in kiosks and bar-coding into the new hospital. \u0022We want to optimize the process before we draw the first line. We want form to follow function.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKent says that Meadows\u0027 approach could be successful in other hospitals, but notes that change is often difficult, especially in health care.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If you don\u0027t change and innovate, it will kill you,\u0022 he added.  \u0022One of the goals of lean health care is to awaken a new level of thinking and introduce manufacturing approaches that have been proven to produce excellent efficiency and profitability.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Nancy Fullbright (404-894-2214); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:nancy.fullbright@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Enancy.fullbright@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Frank Mewborn (706-542-8903); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:frank.mewborn@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Efrank.mewborn@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Karen Fite (706-542-8901); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:karen.fite@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekaren.fite@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Nancy Fullbright\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Average length of stay in emergency department reduced\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd44 percent"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"A process that has long been used to boost productivity in manufacturing operations is being applied to the health care industry - with dramatic results. With assistance from Georgia Tech, a rural Georgia hospital has dramatically improved efficiency by using lean techniques.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Lean techniques are paying off in health care"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-09-25 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:34","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71868":{"id":"71868","type":"image","title":"CEO Alan Kent","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71869":{"id":"71869","type":"image","title":"Peggy Fountain","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71870":{"id":"71870","type":"image","title":"Flag system","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71868","71869","71870"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/innovate.gatech.edu\/","title":"Enterprise Innovation Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1362","name":"efficiency"},{"id":"1129","name":"healthcare"},{"id":"1675","name":"hospital"},{"id":"1676","name":"lean"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}