Lean strategies help a Boston practice improve patient care

A clinician ’s highest priority is caring for patients, not running an office. But what if inefficiencies in a practice’s operations get in the way of patient care? For Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, the solution was Lean health care. At Harvard Vanguard ’s Boston office, the room where the weekly clinical operations meeting is held is aptly named Mission Control. It serves as the hub of Harvard Vanguard’s implementation of Lean health care, which was developed to improve efficiency and give physicians more time with patients. This is where improvement specialists, physicians and nurses together tackle their list of open improvement issues, by identifying barriers, assigning responsibilities and establishing due dates. They also review the status of recent “Rapid Improvement Events”—one‑ and two‑week intensive Lean activities—as well as longer‑term projects.Press 1 for improvement One recent Rapid Improvement Event involved optimizing the automated phone triage system. Formerly, the only option callers received was, “Press 1 for medical advice.” But when the team reviewed call data, they quickly learned that most calls were for refills, followed by appointments and then medical advice. So they reordered the automated options accordingly. Now option 1 connects patients to someone who can assist with refills; option 2 is for appointments and so on. It was a simple change that has enabled Harvard Vanguard to more quickly get calls to the righ...
Source: AMA Wire - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Source Type: news