Lean Hospital Management

Year after year it is the same thing. Hospital management discuss budgets for each of their department and try to find ways to cut back; each year it becomes a “do more with less” environment. Like any company or corporation, hospital management is charged with finding ways to labor costs and operating. Department heads meet to offer suggestions on how they believe costs can be cut back to meet the budget given to their department for the next fiscal year. One department in a hospital that struggles to stay on budget is the Surgery Department. There are many components involved for a Surgery Department to run efficiently. In the April 2016 Nursing Management magazine it is stated that, “Hospitals work diligently to improve patient throughput, …show more content…
The internal “customers” of the OR are the surgeons, nurses, surgical technicians, and support and supply staff. Keeping the customer in mine helps all involved understand current performance and opportunities for improvement.” (Balancing efficiency and safety in the OR) Making changes for the internal customers will most definitely improve on operating room efficiency. "New trends in analyzing operating room efficiency have emerged at several large academic institutions based on processes used by manufacturing companies to improve their efficiency. One of these is Lean Process Management. Non-lean processes are steps that waste time and provide no added benefit. Identifying these non-lean processes within the OR and making them “lean” is key to improving OR time, profitability as well as patient and staff satisfaction.” (Operating Room Time Savings with the Use of Splint Packs: A Randomized Controlled …show more content…
et al. “Operating Room Time Savings with the Use of Splint Packs: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Archives of Bone and Joint Surgery 4.1 (2016): 10–15. Print.
Reiter, Kaye, MSN, RN. "Balancing Efficiency and Safety in the OR." Nursing Management 47.4 (2016): 30-34. Www.nursingmanagement.com. Web. 11 Apr.