Few strategies have more impact on the effectiveness of a healthcare operation than training staff in Lean Six Sigma. They already have expertise in their clinical duties. But learning about process improvement can help them do their jobs better – and result in better patient outcomes.

That’s the goal of a new program that hopes to raise awareness and skills in continuous process improvement in hospitals, clinics, physicians’ networks and other healthcare facilities nationwide.

The Salina Regional Health Center in Salina, Kansas, offers the Lean training program through its subsidiary, Salina Regional Health Enterprises (SRHE) of Kansas. SRHE based the program on successful Lean Six Sigma training at the Salina Regional Health Center.

The new program “will allow our team to expand our reach and help other health systems improve performance,” Joel Phelps, Chief Executive Officer of SRHE, said in a news release. He added that while cost savings are important, “the improved service, quality and patient outcomes are really what it is all about.”

Lean Six Sigma’s Potential in Healthcare

SRHE plans to offer Lean training, most of it virtual, at the Lean training levels of Yellow Belt, Green Belt and Black Belt. The core group of trainers at SRHE have worked for two decades on implementing Lean Six Sigma strategies in healthcare that resulted in millions of dollars in savings.

The 372-bed Salina Regional Health Center alone trained 1,500 people in Lean, a move that resulted in $20 million in savings. The hospital had experienced tough economic times and a difficulty in hiring the talent they needed before committing to Lean process improvement.

The health center applies Lean strategies to improve quality of care, patient safety and employee engagement. It reached those goals using Lean concepts and practices. On the medical center website, organizational leaders said they chose to use Lean Six Sigma because:

  • It combines a philosophy, set of principles and tool set
  • The philosophy fits a rapidly changing healthcare industry
  • The tool set is logical and easy to implement
  • It empowers employees
  • The results are rapid

The Healthcare Industry Is Increasingly Turning to Lean Six Sigma Principles

The healthcare industry has rapidly grown in recent decades while also facing enormous pressures. Those pressures include ever-evolving government regulations and balancing improved patient outcomes with more efficient operations.

By using the principles of Lean Six Sigma, healthcare operations can meet the challenges of all three. More healthcare operations than ever are putting that idea to the test.

For example, Michigan healthcare company McLaren Greater Lansing committed to training all its 2,500 employees as Yellow Belts. Rather than create a support staff schooled in the ways of Lean Six Sigma, McLaren created an entire staff that understands Lean fundamentals.

Other process improvement efforts in healthcare have focused on areas such as improving patient experience and solving long-standing challenges involving patient transfers and the accuracy of patient information taken during check-in.

A Veterans Affairs hospital in Kentucky also recently put Lean strategies to work to improve healthcare services provided to veterans.