CASE STUDY
CLIENT: Columbia Orthopedics New York, NY
Rapid process analysis helps organizations determine where to focus improvement efforts. Through observation and shadowing, a team of lean process experts can quickly assess the current flow and patient experience. These activities lead to a summary of potential steps the organization can take to move toward their ideal future state - as a means to define scope, both of improvement work and physical design, if appropriate.
SERVICE: Transformation
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
METHOD: Process Analysis
Columbia Orthopedics is a patient-focused, outpatient orthopedic physician practice. They desired to improve the patient experience by reducing waiting time and improving flow throughout their process. The administrative team at Columbia knew
Challenge
about process improvement, but were unsure of where they should start and which
The client recognized a patient flow problem, and needed assistance pinpointing the trouble areas and creating a path to future improvement.
improvements would provide the most value. Array saw this as the perfect opportunity to analyze the patient flow process at the clinic and offer suggestions for future improvements. In this case, the process analysis was a swift, targeted multidisciplinary series of one- to two-hour workshops in which we observed the process, collected preliminary data, briefly interviewed staff and developed suggestions for improvements as appropriate. •
Process Mapping: Staff gave a general overview of the process from patient arrival to departure.
Solution A brief and rigorous assessment format co-led by healthcare architects and systems engineers identified clear areas of scope, staffing model, communication and interdepartmental orders as imperative to improved throughput.
•
Process Observation: Our team observed the clinic’s patient flow process from the perspective of the patient, physician and MA. We used spaghetti diagrams to track the flow of each population and time-study sheets to capture data regarding length of stay and physician interaction time.
•
Staff Interviews: To gain a better understanding of the daily operations, we spoke with staff from all levels of the organization using a custom interview questionnaire.
Utilizing process analysis and associated tools, we were able to develop a targeted improvement plan that identified a number of specific items that could improve patient flow and reduce waiting times. We provided this plan in a clear format, which included additional detailed information about our study.
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
5
FOCUSED PROJECTS IDENTIFIED
10
STAFF MEMBERS INTERVIEWED
2
hr
PATIENT/STAFF OBSERVATION PERIOD