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Lean Healthcare Transformation Post-Summit Tours (Open to Healthcare Value Network Members Only)

Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota Tour (SOLD OUT) Park Nicollet Health Services Tour

Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota – Minneapolis Hospital Campus
Friday, June 8, 2012

Serving as Minnesota's children's hospital since 1924, Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota is one of the largest pediatric health care organizations in the United States, with 347 staffed beds at its two hospitals in St. Paul and Minneapolis and offsite specialty and general pediatric clinics. An independent, not-for-profit health care system, Minnesota Children's cared for 130,000 individual children in 2011 through 12,000 inpatient hospital admissions, 90,000 emergency department visits, 150,000 outpatient clinic visits, 70,000 rehabilitation visits, and 60,000 encounters interpreted in one of 46 languages. Children's is the only Minnesota hospital system to provide comprehensive care exclusively to children.

Children's is regularly ranked among the top pediatric hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, most recently in 2011 for its neonatal, cardiovascular, cancer and pulmonology care. Once again in 2011, Children's was recognized by the Leapfrog Group as two of the seven top pediatric hospitals in the country for quality and efficiency.

Children's Lean Improvement Journey

Children's began its Lean improvement journey in 2005 as its next step to improve outcomes, reliability and patient safety, engaging Joan Wellman & Associates as its Lean mentor.  In 2006 the Lean Resource Office (LRO) was established in 2006 to provide the state of the art facilities and trained coaches necessary to execute Children's overall Lean transformation strategy.  The LRO is staffed with certified Lean professionals who provide training, facilitate breakthrough improvement workshop events, coach strategic value stream improvement teams, provide process and design consultations, and mentor improvement strategy development and deployment.

Since 2006 Children's has conducted over 250 improvement workshops, initiated 10 strategic value stream teams, and has deployed a daily engagement system across all clinical and support units.  Its current strategic breakthrough work includes strategic value stream improvement in care coordination, scheduling & staffing, medication safety, emergency department flow, and deepening the reach and effectiveness of our daily engagement system.

Focus areas (Gemba stations) for June 8, post-Summit tour:

• Inpatient Unit Room Design & Flow
  Medical/Surgical Unit patient rooms were designed using Lean methodology to support a model of care that enhances the efficiency of the seven flows of healthcare:  patients, families, staff, supplies, medications, information, and equipment.  Each child is provided with a single private inpatient room which tastefully provides efficient, workable spaces for the patient, the family and the staff, addressing in the design the needs of each during a hospital stay.  Each room provides for privacy, clinical care, line of sight observation, monitoring, infection control, entertainment, communication, family productivity and connection to the outside world, with convenient location of beside supplies and patient-specific medications within the room, minimizing the need for a unit-based medication room.  Supply rooms on the unit employ a standardized color-coded design to minimize staff search time, with a unique, internally-developed 2-bin supply replenishment system that assures continuous supply availability, while minimizing excess inventory and eliminating the need to count supplies in the replenishment process. 
• Clinical Laboratory
  The laboratory has been designed for flexibility with minimal built-in casework, mobile and adjustable work surfaces and with all electrical and plumbing supplied through the ceiling.  You will see how work cells have been implemented to create flow in an area of high variation.  The Lab was a first adopter of a daily engagement system and can provide insight on the benefits and pitfalls.
• Pharmacy
  Children's Pharmacy was an early adopter of Lean and has incorporated many of the core concepts.  You will see; application of 5S, the use of Kanban in signaling material replenishment and process steps; cell design for filling orders; and just-in-time delivery of meds with a 2 hr. cart fill process.

 

(SOLD OUT) Park Nicollet Health Services - Methodist Hospital, St. Louis Park, MN
Friday, June 8, 2012

Park Nicollet Health Services is an integrated care delivery system in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.  Park Nicollet operates 25 primary care locations and 45 specialty clinics in the western and southwestern suburbs of Minneapolis, and they also own and operate Methodist Hospital, a 426-bed facility located in St. Louis Park. They are renowned for high quality patient care, medical expertise and disease management. Park Nicollet is frequently recognized as an area leader in cancer, cardiovascular, maternity care and neurorehabilitation medicine.

Park Nicollet began their lean journey in 2003, and was one of the initial organizations to join the Healthcare Value Network.

In August of 2010, Park Nicollet hosted a Gemba Visit for Healthcare Value Network members, which featured the results of their use of 3P methods and tools in the design of innovative care models and facilities, as well as supply management in multiple settings.

• Tour schedule:
  7:15 am		Tour check-in - Doubletree Hotel Lobby (for those who will be departing from airport after the tour, bring luggage)
  7:30		Bus departs for Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital
  8:15		Organization overview
  8:50		Gemba station #1
  9:40		Gemba station #2
  10:20		Gemba station #3
  11:00		Debrief and Q&A
  11:30		Bus departs for Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport

  Focus areas (Gemba stations) for June 8, post summit tour:

  • Endoscopy Unit
    The Endoscopy department exhibits many lean characteristics, including cellular production, visual daily management, standardization, andons, pull signals, one-piece-flow, preventative maintenance, load leveling and kanban.  The leaders of this department have also effectively blended their process and clinical quality improvement work, ensuring that further process improvements don't inadvertently compromise clinical outcomes.  Park Nicollet's Lean journey began in Endoscopy in the Fall of 2003, after 13 Rapid Improvement Workshops and two 3P efforts, this department now serves as Park Nicollet's "model line," a place where lean concepts can be seen in action and learned by others.  This department has sustained improvements in capacity, volumes, productivity and cost per procedure as a result of their ongoing commitment to improvement.
  • Frauenshuh Cancer Center
    Opened in August 2009, the Frauenshuh Cancer Center includes medical oncology, infusion therapy, radiation therapy and patient support services.  Starting with a 3P in 2005, the facility was designed with extensive patient input around the core concept of the "non-moving patient."  This innovative design means patients stay in their rooms for nurse and doctor visits, lab draws, treatment and support services.  Everywhere you look at Frauenshuh Cancer Center, you will find "green" design elements and features.  In April 2010, Frauenshuh Cancer Center achieved LEED Silver Certification.  Cancer Center leaders have embraced continuous quality improvement, further refining the processes their patients experience on a daily basis.
  • Supply Chain and Kanban System
    Park Nicollet has developed and applied kanban throughout the organization, ranging from simple two-bin systems to sophisticated "electronic kanban."  This tour will highlight key elements of the system and how they've been used to improve the management of inventory located across the roughly 23,000 locations at Park Nicollet supported by kanban.