Lean Six Sigma has long been used in a corporate or business environment to streamline processes and reduce wasteful spending. The application of Lean in healthcare is a different; it requires an understanding of how the methodologies and tools convert to the people-intensive processes of patient care.

Many believe that that the current U.S. healthcare system is not sustainable. Because of this belief, the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was passed and has allocated funding of more than $147 billion to healthcare over the past five years. It was with the passing of this act that lawmakers hoped the first step had been taken in a longer journey toward a better healthcare system.

With several opportunities to implement both Six Sigma and Lean methodologies across the entire healthcare system, the healthcare community recognized the numerous benefits that an effective Lean training program could provide.

At the forefront of the healthcare portion of the ARRA is the saving of lives, jobs and money. Six Sigma and Lean methodologies can make a huge impact on all three areas. The uses of Lean Six Sigma in healthcare are abundantly clear: preventing medical mistakes, decreasing mortality rates, lessening lengths of stay, improving patient care and increasing quality.

ARRA: The Breakdown

Funding from the ARRA has made it possible to apply Lean Six Sigma to a wide variety of targeted areas. One critical area is lowering healthcare costs. Several other problematic areas within healthcare that benefit from Lean methodologies include outright inefficiency, inappropriate or duplicative care, and incomplete information.

Lean will also help generate additional savings by reducing waste, decreasing medical errors and improving quality, as well as improving patient outcomes and detecting, preventing, and managing chronic disease.

The breakdown of the $147.7 billion dollars allocated specifically for healthcare initiatives is as follows:

  • $86.6 billion for Medicaid
  • $24.7 billion to provide a 65% subsidy of healthcare insurance premiums for the unemployed under the COBRA program
  • $19 billion for health information technology
  • $10 billion for health research and construction of National Institutes of Health facilities
  • $1.3 billion for medical care for service members and their families (military)
  • $1 billion for prevention and wellness
  • $1 billion for the Veterans Health Administration
  • $2 billion for Community Health Centers
  • $1.1 billion to research the effectiveness of certain healthcare treatments
  • $500 million to train healthcare personnel
  • $500 million for healthcare services on Indian reservations

Extraordinary Uses of Lean Six Sigma in Healthcare

The number of uses of Lean Six Sigma in day-to-day operations of doctors’ offices, hospitals and clinics is astounding. Lean processes and methodologies streamline operations by shortening wait times, decreasing mortality rates, reducing costs and increasing efficiency. In 2010, Russell Maroni, an X-Ray Technician from Akron, Ohio, utilized his Lean and A3 training on a volunteer trip to Haiti to assist in earthquake relief efforts.

Russell was able to apply his knowledge on his first day in Haiti, while he worked in an understaffed field hospital that lacked nearly everything it needed to operate. He kept a journal of his experiences and remarked, “In this midst of the hospital’s chaos, having an organized system to analyze and solve complex problems was invaluable. I felt like David, staring up at Goliath with a fishbone diagram loaded into my sling. As intimidating as it was, it all worked out beautifully, and I’m thankful that I could be a part of the relief effort.”

Implementing Lean Six Sigma in healthcare facilities can help reduce healthcare costs by billions of dollars each year. These costs can be decreased significantly by cutting the red tape, preventing medical mistakes, providing improved patient care and initiating cost-saving efficiencies.