Increasing efficiency in healthcare : a showcase in an orthopedic outpatient clinic
Purpose: Cost reduction is a current topic within healthcare. This article aims to show how Lean Six Sigma can be applied to make the orthopedic outpatient clinic within a hospital more cost-effective. The approach can, of course, also be applied to other departments. Design/methodology/approach: We did a pareto analysis to select the project with the greatest potential. The most expensive and time-consuming activity is repeat consultations; these number around 7,500 per year and are all performed by the orthopedic surgeon. This limits the number of appointments available for new patients. Moreover, the hospital gets a fixed amount of money for each new patient. Therefore, reducing the number of repeat consultations is beneficial to both the patient and the hospital. Findings: Based on data analysis, we found that the number of repeat consultations performed by orthopedic surgeons can be reduced by 19.5%. An additional 10.8% can be performed by phone, which will probably save the surgeons considerable time. The freed-up time can be used for new patients. Another result is that hospital visits by patients for repeat consults can be reduced by 20.3%. We believe that these efficiency improvements are also possible for other departments/processes. Finally, in the given case, the freed-up time for new patients could generate 465K euros. Originality/value: This article shows that 20% of the care provided by the physicians (i.e. repeat consults) is omissible. While most projects focus on doing the same number of activities in a more efficient way, this paper shows that it is also possible to reduce the amount of medical care provided. We believe that it would be beneficial to take such a perspective when looking at other processes and departments within healthcare.
Year of publication: |
2021
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Authors: | Heijink, Andras ; van den Heuvel, Jaap ; Schoonhoven, Marit |
Published in: |
International Journal of Lean Six Sigma. - Emerald, ISSN 2040-4166, ZDB-ID 2553041-0. - Vol. 13.2021, 1 (25.09.), p. 33-45
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Publisher: |
Emerald |
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