This document summarizes Lean Six Sigma and its benefits for healthcare organizations. It discusses how Lean Six Sigma can help healthcare facilities reduce costs and improve patient care while navigating changing regulations and reimbursement policies. Lean Six Sigma combines Lean methodologies to simplify processes, eliminate waste, and increase speed with Six Sigma techniques to eliminate defects and reduce variation. It develops capabilities to address urgent patient needs through sustained, data-driven improvements that save lives by creating a culture of continuous improvement. Studies show Lean Six Sigma achieves both higher efficiency and compassionate care through dramatic results. The document also introduces the provider's SystemCPI program for planning, implementing, and sustaining Lean Six Sigma process improvements in healthcare.

2. LEAN
LEAN SOLUTIONS FOR HEALTHCARE
SIX SIGMA
SIX SIGMA
Simplify process Eliminate defects
Eliminate waste Reduce variation
Increase speed Sustain improvements
Achieve quick results Achieve predictable
results
The healthcare landscape is changing at an astonishing rate. Now more than ever,
healthcare facilities are faced with the imperative to reduce costs while delivering
increasingly better patient care. Plus, maneuvering through stricter accreditation
requirements and Medicare’s changing reimbursement policies will be more dif-
ficult and costly without a framework for producing systematic improvements.
Competitiveness
LEAN Sustained Improvements
SIX SIGMA The reality is that adopting Lean Six Sigma Lean Six Sigma develops core capabilities
Simplify processes Eliminate defects
programs, even at the best healthcare facili- that address urgent needs in patient care and
Eliminate waste Reduce variation
ties, is essential to just being competitive. For- safety and make the kinds of improvements
Increase speed Sustain improvements
tunately, the objectives of controlling costs that save lives. In this way, it creates a culture
and improving quality – two goals seemingly of continuous improvement that is weaved
at odds with each other – can be achieved si- into the fabric of the healthcare system.
multaneously.
This methodology can be applied through-
“Lean Six Sigma develops core capabilities out a healthcare facility to achieve improve-
that make the kinds of improvements in ments in infection rates, medical records and
pharmaceutical errors, bed turnover, emer-
patient care that save lives.” gency room bottlenecks, supplies and equip-
ment availability, patient satisfaction and
Value much more. Importantly, Lean Six Sigma uses
a data-driven approach to fix root causes of
Studies of operational improvements in
problems with strict controls that ensure cor-
healthcare using Lean Six Sigma are becom-
rective actions are sustained.
ing commonplace. By borrowing best prac-
tices from the corporate world, this proven
methodology works to achieve high levels of
business efficiency while still delivering com-
passionate care. And with dramatic results.
“NOVACES brings highly professional, profound
knowledge in Lean, Six Sigma and other
transformational technologies that positively
impacted our business and our employees.”

3. “The Lean Six Sigma methodology
helped focus our team on identifying
unnecessary work steps and on
developing a redefined and truly better
GET process. Training was very, very good.”
RESULTS SystemCPI™
Flexible Lean Six Sigma ROADMAP TO OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
Implementations
ASSESS PLAN APPLY SUSTAIN
Our implementations attack waste, Strategy Alignment Executive Sponsorship Quick Hit Improvements Replication
Metrics Opportunity Prioritization Lean Financial Validation
inefficiencies and defects hospital- Gap Analysis Training Six Sigma Rewards & Recognition
wide. Still, Lean Six Sigma initiatives System-Level Value Stream Teambuilding Constraints Management Deployment Review
don’t have to be overly complex. Our CHANGE MANAGEMENT
approach can produce measurable re-
Implementation Roadmap “The first projects we
sults in as little as 90 days.
We have shaped our extensive experience
conducted showed us how
into an integrated toolbox for planning, im-
Lean Six Sigma enables
plementing and sustaining process improve-
Maximize cost effectiveness
n
ment in healthcare. We call this complete pro-
us to see our processes,
Reduce turnaround times
n gram SystemCPI™.
understand our systems
Increase materials control
n
better and make us more
What’s more, our training courses incorpo-
Improve discharge rates
n
rate the terminology, examples and simu-
competitive.”
Exceed accreditation standards
n
lations that reflect the reality of today’s
- Baris Turgutoglu
healthcare environment. In the end, our focus
Director of Management Operations
is on transferring these tools and methodolo-
gies to make your process improvement ini- Kent Hospital
tiative self-sufficient.
Whether you are just beginning the journey in
continuous process improvement or supple-
menting a current program, SystemCPI™ can
easily be customized to your unique needs.