Countering Declining Reimbursements By Getting Lean
By Wendy Grafius, contributing writer
Colorado hospital enhances curriculum, improves existing Lean system with goals of identifying waste, improving efficiency
Denver Health, the Rocky Mountain region’s safety net hospital, and Healthcare Performance Partners, a healthcare consulting firm, have collaborated to enhance the curriculum of the Denver Health Lean Academy and to improve the Lean systems already in place at the health delivery system.
In the face of uncompensated care and declining reimbursements, Denver Health launched a Lean initiative in 2005, modeled after the Toyota Production System’s Lean principles. With a goal of identifying waste and improving efficiency, the health system sought a change to its culture and processes that would allow financial stability while continuing to deliver high-quality patient care. With quantified success to the tune of $194 million in financial benefit since 2005, Denver Health expanded its Lean approach within its strategic plan to include growth, patient experience, workforce engagement, patient safety and quality, and community. Involving more than 2000 employees in Lean improvements, in 2011 Denver Health became the world’s first healthcare entity to receive the Shingo Bronze Medallion for Operational Excellence.
Denver Health’s unique approach to Lean includes Lean Management Systems, Lean Tools Deployment, and Internal Lean “Black Belt” Training Program and Projects. In 2012, Denver Health created the Lean Academy to share Lean practices and methods with other healthcare entities. The collaboration with Healthcare Performance Partners is the next step, with redesigned course offerings and enhanced faculty to include professionals from the consulting firm. “We take to heart the spirit of continuous improvement and are on a quest to take our organization and the Lean Academy to the next level,” said Art Gonzalez, CEO of Denver Health. “We are confident that our collaboration with Healthcare Performance Partners will enable Denver Health to further the success of our Lean Academy, as well as our own learning.”
The relationship with Healthcare Performance Partners is also expected to augment Denver Health’s own Lean program with the implementation of systems that link all organizational efforts to long-term business priorities, supporting strategic and annual plans. “We’re excited that Healthcare Performance Partners was selected to help Denver Health build upon the solid program foundation it has established, as well as support them in their collaborative efforts to share Lean knowledge and practices with the rest of the healthcare industry at this critical time in its evolution,” said Charles Hagood, president of Healthcare Performance Partners. “Our instructional designers, professional consultants, facilitators and trainers have been hard at work to add value to both Denver Health’s internal Lean development, as well as its Lean Academy.”
Denver Health, an integrated acute and emergency care organization, features a Level I trauma center which serves as Denver’s 911 emergency medical response system. With 525 licensed beds, the hospital provides care for 25 percent of all Rocky Mountain region residents, regardless of ability to pay. Denver Health is further composed of eight family health locations, 13 school-based health centers, the Denver Health Foundation, and several public and community health services and centers.
SOURCE: Business Wire
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