Instructors

Christopher Strear, MD, Northwest Acute Care Specialists, Director of Patient flow
Danilo Sirias, PhD, Saginaw Valley State University, Professor in the Department of Management and Marketing

Overview:

In this workshop, you will learn about an improvement methodology referred to as the Theory of Constraints and how it can be applied to improve patient flow in hospitals. Some of the topics to be covered includes 1) what is different about the Theory of Constraints, 2) effective performance measurements to make decisions, 3) the vital role of bottlenecks in healthcare, 4) the five focusing steps of the Theory of Constraints and how to apply them to improve patient flow in hospitals, 5) beyond bottlenecks...learning about constraints, 6) What is Drum Buffer Rope (DBR)?, 7) The pitfall of "pull-till-full" in Emergency Departments, 8) DBR in the Emergency Departments, 9) What is buffer management? 10) Different types of buffers, 10) buffer management in Emergency Departments and inpatient units.

The course will be livestreamed from 1pm until 3pm ET May 21.

What You Will Learn:

Participants in this 2 hour workshop will learn:

• The Definition of Theory of Constraints
• The Role of Bottlenecks in Healthcare
• The Five Focusing Steps of the Theory of Constraints
• The Definition and Application of Drum Buffer Rope (DBR)
• Buffer Management in Emergency Departments and Inpatient Units