Imaging and Other Specialty Services

Fancy hospitals often fail to impress patients

Hospital executives across the country have justified expensive renovation and expansion projects believing they will lead to better patient reviews and recommendations. Patient satisfaction has become even more important since Medicare started to base some of its reimbursement on patient surveys.

10 guiding principles for leading change management

Almost half of the most sophisticated companies on the planet fail at major change transformations. This recent article in IndustryWeek describes 10 guiding principles for effective change management.

ASCO to help cancer docs evaluate treatment value

The American Society of Clinical Oncology's algorithm to help oncologists evaluate the clinical benefits, side effects and costs of a cancer drug or therapy will be fine-tuned over the summer and should be available for public comment by the fall, said Dr. Lowell Schnipper, chair of the society's Value in Cancer Care Task Force.

Operating Room staffing and allocation

Dr. Dexter provides an innovative and practical approach to staffing and allocation of operating room (OR) time to reduce overall OR expense and reduce variability in late staffing. The presentation has links to an intensive course in OR management offered through the University of Iowa.

Pharmacy-directed drug cost management

This article in Pharmacy Purchasing & Products describes a strategic framework for controlling and reducing costs in hospital pharmacies based on work done at Riverside Health System in Virginia.

Interventional radiology throughput optimization

This paper is a case study of work done at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas, to improve interventional radiology throughput with the main objective of reducing patient wait times and avoiding costly capital investment.

Lean Six Sigma tools improve more than turn-around-time for ED blood draws

This case study from the Healthcare Systems Process Improvement Conference presents the analysis of the ED-LAB blood draw system for a large tertiary teaching hospital. Paper | Presentation  

From bad to great: How one radiology department made the transition

A recent article in Radiology Business Journal  highlights changes made at Advocate Condell Medical Center that dramatically improved customer service. SHS member and conference presenter Airica Steed, Ed.D., R.N., led the improvements.

Patient and resource scheduling of multi-step medical procedures in nuclear medicine

Managing patients in nuclear medicine departments is a very challenging problem with limited research reported in the literature. The complexity involved in this healthcare setting makes this problem unique. In this paper, the authors derive and implement algorithms for scheduling nuclear medicine patients and resources.

Improving efficiency with EMRs

SHS member and Diplomate Amanda Mewborn makes the case in the online publication, Advance, that the benefits of electronic medical records (EMR) can't be fully achieved unless a systems approach to removing waste and non-nursing tasks is taken. Rather than driving efficiency, EMR's are the glue that can hold well-designed process together to achieve total hospital efficiency.

Purdue industrial engineering researchers investigate using surgeon hand gestures to improve surgery 

Vision based recognition of hand gestures is being researched at Purdue University to control a robotic scrub nurse and access images during surgical cases. The research could lead to short case lengths and reduced infections according to the Purdue University News website.


 Enhancing Hospital Health Information Management using Industrial Engineering Tools

Lean tools and simulation are used to recommend improvements to HIM operational processes.

In by 9 Out by 6 - Level Loading

A CT scan department has its demand smoothed.

Helping a Hospital Shine

Lean tools are used to redesign processes throughout a hospital.

In by 9 out by 6 - Load Leveling

Detailed description of a lean project to improve TAT in the CT Scan department.

In the Quest for Performance Excellence: Deployment of Lean Manufacturing Principles in Healthcare Delivery Processes

Three successful lean projects are discussed in detail.  The ED, Radiology, and HR departments all show significant improvement.

Establishing Nursing Staffing Requirements in an Imaging Environment

A study is done to improve the communication between and expense of the nursing staff associated with all imaging modalities.

The Journey Toward a Lean ED

A 100,000 annual visit hospital ED is redesigned using lean principles. Wait times decrease and pt satisfaction and revenue increases.  Simulation shows further viability of new processes.  This presentation is made by a MD who became a lean coach.

Key Performance Indicators: Relevant Metrics that Sell Results and Drive Ongoing Improvement

A discussion of the importance of metric and measurement accuracy during execution of improvement projects.

Lean in the Laboratory and Radiology: A Patient Throughput Imperative

Lean improvements within the radiology suite and laboratory workspace yield notable improvements. Project benefits are discussed.

Healthcare Case Study - Student Competition

The attached presentation is a sample problem intended to be worked by students in project teams. The solution is not provided.