Addressing the Waiting Waste Issue in Health Institutions

Addressing the Waiting Waste Issue in Health Institutions.

Reducing Waiting for Waste Through Lean Solutions.

Identifying waiting waste Issues.. - Patients experience long wait times to see the providers. - Continued dissatisfaction by the patients on the speed of the delivery of the services around the healthcare facility. - Increased overhead for the waiting rooms and even the staff members needed to manage such situations. - In normal situations, patients have to wait for about 45-60 minutes even before the possibility of the appointment is determined. - Waiting time during peak hours is extreme, leading to about 2 hours even before the scheduling of the patient's appointment confirmation..

Costs of Waiting.. - Extreme cases of revenue loss recorded. - 25% of the patients leave even without being seen. - For every missed appointment, there is an estimated revenue loss of about $75. - An estimated annual revenue loss of $100,000. - There is also strong evidence of increased overhead cost. - Larger waiting rooms are required by both the patients and the staff managing the waiting patients. - Additional staff needed to manage the patient flow. - An eye-watering amount estimated as $50,000 annually added to the overhead cost associated with waiting..

Costs of Waiting(Cont’d). Decreased satisfaction. The patient satisfaction score is very low due to the time spent waitingas low as 15%. The poor patient satisfaction also deters future utilization. There is an estimated 20% decrease in return patients. Other Costs: Increased patient complaints. Higher staff turnover due to the frustration associated with high workload and managing the frustrated patients. Lower provider productivity. Poor workplace culture and work-life balance for the staff..

Lean Scheduling Solution.. The solution includes the implementation of various steps including: Staggering the appointment start times. Preventing the possibility of patients bunching up. Matching the appointment capacity to the provider availability to reduce excesses. Implementation: Analyze the appointment pattern and the historical data on demand. Identify instances of bottlenecks and even unused capacity. Reschedule the appointments in staggered intervals (Lot et al., 2018)..

Fast Track Solution.. - The solution includes the implementation of the following various steps: - Separating the unit for simple, routine medical needs. - Avoiding the delays of simple patient issues behind the complex cases that take some time. - Quickly treating minor injuries and screening cases to avoid cases piling up. - Implementation: - The first step is to designate the fast track area and staff. - Next, there is a need to triage the patients to the appropriate track. - Lastly, there is a need to optimize the flow for simplicity ( Toustrup et al., 2011)..

Outcome of Solutions(How Solutions Could Reduce Waste).

Summary.. - Patient waiting time is a critical issue for any organization, especially in healthcare. - Long wait times result in poor satisfaction and even lost revenue. - Major costs associated with longer wait times include, among others, higher overhead, lower future utilization, and even higher staff turnover. - Lean scheduling staggers appointments to match the capacity, hence leading to a smooth flow. - Fast track solutions separate the simple needs in an attempt to avoid the complex appointment delays. - These solutions reduce waiting by optimizing provider time, reducing wait time, and increasing satisfaction. - Benefits to organizations include improved revenue, reduced costs, efficiency, and better care delivery..

Conclusion and Thank You. - Waiting waste is a major issue hurting our organization. - Causes large revenue losses, higher costs, and lower satisfaction. - Lean solutions like staggered scheduling and fast tracks can help. - Optimize provider time, smooth patient flow, reduce wait times. - Increased satisfaction, productivity, and recaptured revenue. - Implementing Lean principles cuts waste and boosts the bottom line. - Opportunity to improve processes and deliver better patient care. - Questions? - Thank You..

References.. Toustrup , K., Lambertsen , K., Birke- Sørensen , H., Ulhøi , B., Sørensen , L., & Grau, C. (2011). Reduction in waiting time for diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer – a fast track study. Acta Oncologica , 50(5), 636–641. https://doi.org/10.3109/0284186X.2010.551139 Lot, L. T., Sarantopoulos, A., Min, L. L., Perales, S. R., Boin , I. de F. S. F., & de Ataide , E. C. (2018). Using Lean tools to reduce patient waiting time. Leadership in Health Services, 31(3), 343–351..