The Industrial Extension Service (IES) at NC State University and the North Carolina Center for Hospital Quality and Patient Safety (NC Quality Center) has joined in partnership to establish a NC Lean Healthcare program.

Within the past 10 years lean methodology has crept into healthcare. The concept of “lean thinking” is most commonly associated with Japanese manufacturing or the Toyota Production System (TPS). Lean thinking is a management strategy to reduce waste in processes so that all work adds value and serves the customer. At the core of the methodology is identifying the value-added steps from the non-valued-added steps in a process, eliminating the non-value-added steps and resulting in reduced costs and improved quality. Ultimately a healthcare system will improve the service delivery, care, and outcomes for patients while reducing costs to the system.

IES has worked several healthcare organizations within NC on their journey to lean operations, including High Point Regional Health System, which agreed to share their results:

Through patient-centered lean initiatives, IES will coach healthcare providers in critical lean concepts such as value stream mapping, 5S tools and kaizen activities. Several initiatives are currently available regarding these programs. Other initiatives are in development and include the Executive Lean Healthcare Overview, Lean Healthcare Overview for Managers, and Lean Healthcare Training.

For information on these programs, e-mail NC State’s Annah Poteat or call her at 704.202.7610. Or contact Dr. Carol Koeble at the NC Quality Center at 919.677.4211.