Lean in healthcare applies to a variety of organizational processes

When it comes to Lean practices within the healthcare industry, the extent to which organizations measure their processes directly influences how successful their quality improvement efforts are.

For example, when it comes to hiring and recruiting, metrics are needed to quantify returns on talent management investments to key stakeholders. Michael DiPietro points out in Healthcare Finance News that recruiting data can be used to gauge future staffing and payroll demands. Hiring metrics can also be helpful for celebrating success and recognizing achievements within a human resources team.

“Cost of vacancy is another key metric that allows organizations to calculate the expenses associated with positions filled temporarily by an agency or overtime personnel,” DiPietro explains. “Quantifying the cost of vacancy can support a business case for maintaining or adding recruitment resources to reduce overall expenses.

“When healthcare HR teams develop hiring metrics, like job board ROI and cost of vacancy, they generate data relevant to meeting business goals,” he adds.

This leads to greater collaboration between departments and helps eliminate redundancies and excess costs.

But Lean in healthcare is not just about HR. In fact, Lean is most often applied to highly complex processes such as research and patient care. Pathology departments, for example, have been increasingly utilizing Lean strategies to improve the quality, efficiency and safety of their services.

Siemens Healthcare Solutions is an example of an organization that has adopted Lean as a chief growth and sustainability strategy. The company's Lean Certified Consultants have helped make considerable savings on cost, time and other resources.

The value of Lean practices within a healthcare environment are so noteworthy that industry leaders are preparing for a conference devoted entirely Lean Healthcare management. Executives, managers and practitioners will gather at the third annual Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on June 6 and 7. Participants will share best practices, tips and results of recent Lean application experiments.

“The summit is designed for senior leaders, physicians, administrators, managers and front-line clinical or professional staff – virtually any healthcare professional involved in or interested in change within their organizations,” explained conference host the Lean Enterprise Institute in a statement.