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Yelp’s Novel Approach to Healthcare Quality Improvement – Patients Review Doctors
According to a recent article published on Healthcare Informatics, the University of Utah Healthcare System has been experimenting with a new way of motivating its physicians to improve patient care: let patients review the physicians as though the physicians were restaurants or bars on Yelp. Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp’s founder and CEO, sat on a panel […]
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Six Sigma in Healthcare: It’s Not Just for Manufacturing
While some of the rising costs of healthcare are due to increases in the elderly population or using expensive new medical technologies, a significant portion of the expenses can be attributed to operational inefficiencies. Unnecessary steps in drug delivery, bloated administration, or complicated logistical systems are all ways in which healthcare operation can become less […]
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Revolutionizing Healthcare: The Toyota Production System
According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, Dr. Gary Kaplan, CEO of Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle Washington, was named one of the “50 Most Influential Physician and Executive Leaders” for the eleventh year. One of his most notable accomplishments has been to introduce The Toyota Production System to improve the level of care at […]
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How Lean Management is Transforming the Healthcare World
The Toyota Production System: What Does It Mean, And What Does It Mean For Health Care? The principles of lean management, as exemplified in the Toyota Production System (TPS), have achieved legendary status in the world of manufacturing. These same principles are now transforming the world of healthcare. The results include greater efficiency, lower cost, […]
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Staying on the Lookout: Identifying New Opportunities to Be Lean in Healthcare
Once the Lean Six Sigma principles have been put into effect, it would appear that the organization is running more smoothly than ever. There are fewer wastes, and therefore more profits, than ever before. There’s just one problem: complacency means that you are no longer identifying new opportunities to be lean. There are always areas […]
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Six Sigma Training Takes Healthcare Facility Design to a New Level
Previously, we’ve discussed how Lean Six Sigma is transforming the healthcare industry by decreasing patient wait times and improving emergency room admissions flow. But did you know that some of the nation’s leading architects of healthcare facilities are also using their Six Sigma training to improve healthcare delivery? According to a recent press release from […]
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Healthcare Consultant Says Lean Six Sigma is Crucial to Delivery System
The purpose behind healthcare delivery, according to healthcare business consultant Austin Kirkland, is to eliminate under-performers for the good of value-based medicine. And the way to prevent your practice from being one of the under-performers? Lean Six Sigma. Lean Six Sigma, when applied to the healthcare revenue cycle, Kirkland wrote in a recent article for […]
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Lean Six Sigma and Patient-Centered Healthcare
With the arrival of the Accountable Care Organization and the Patient-Centered Medical Home, physicians face a new challenge. They must assess how they provide healthcare in such a way that they become more valuable to patients, efficient in their clinical practices, and effective to their bottom line. Enter Lean Six Sigma, which has gotten some […]
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Lean Six Sigma Improves Healthcare Employee Morale
It has long been known that Lean Six Sigma provides benefits for shareholders and customers, but a recent study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) show that healthcare organizations that use Lean Six Sigma report higher employee satisfaction. In fact, an independent comparative study of 13 Lean projects, staff at all levels […]
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Why Healthcare Quality Stinks
Let’s be honest, America’s healthcare non-system has its problems. Let’s not quibble over whether or not it is better than socialized systems. For one thing, the demand side is already socialized. Nearly 90% of the cost of healthcare is paid for by third parties, either the insurance company or a government program like Medicare or […]