Applying Lean to Outpatient Lab Services: How We Improved the Experience for 800 Patients per Day in our Patient Service Center, plus other Winning Quality Outcomes.
How does Marshfield, a large multi-specialty clinic, serve up to 800 patients a day in their outpatient phlebotomy center while maintaining top-flight service? (Among Marshfield’s accomplishments is the achievement of zero error rates in several key processes involved in specimen collection at the service center.) In this engaging presentation, the presenters will discuss how Lean Six Sigma and process improvement methods were used to improve the patient experience, both in reduced time from presentation at reception to completed specimen collection. Hear about the use of intriguing innovations, such as hand-held pagers to alert patients when it’s time for their collection, the benefits of standardized processes across 20 draw booths, and the use of real-time middleware to provide analytics that prioritize phlebotomists’ workload. You’ll also learn how organization-wide initiatives to work on the cost of care with a focus on improving the patient experience at Marshfield has encouraged the lab to more effectively manage expensive blood products over their multiple sites.
