Health care processes—from the way a laboratory fulfills orders to the flow of patients through an emergency department—can often be improved. This week introduces you to concepts and techniques of reengineering, and to Lean and Six Sigma, which are process improvement approaches widely used both in and outside of the health care industry.

A major assignment this week requires you to interpret a process flow chart for an emergency room and identify data sources that would indicate reengineering is advisable. You will gain greater insights into the process challenges facing emergency departments through an interview you will conduct with an ED manager or administrator, as well as through researching best practices for patient flow process improvement.

Objectives

By the end of this week, students will be able to:

Interpret process flowcharts and other data relevant to health care workflows
Describe sources of data and quantitative methods used in process improvement
Assess issues in applying best practices for process improvement in a health care setting
Calculate time standards and other elements related to reengineering