CLIENT:
Columbia Orthopedics CASE STUDY
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.
CHALLENGE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The client recognized a patient flow
Columbia Orthopedics is a patient-focused, outpatient orthopedic physician practice.
problem, and needed assistance
They desired to improve the patient experience by reducing waiting time and
pinpointing the trouble areas and creating
improving flow throughout their process. The administrative team at Columbia knew
a path to future improvement.
about process improvement, but were unsure of where they should start and which improvements would provide the most value. Array saw this as the perfect opportunity to analyze the patient flow process at
SOLUTION
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
Process Analysis
in which we observed the process, collected preliminary data, briefly interviewed staff
A brief and rigorous assessment format
and developed suggestions for improvements as appropriate.
co-led by healthcare architects and
• Process Mapping: Staff gave a general overview of the process from patient arrival
systems engineers identified clear areas
to departure.
of scope, staffing model, communication
• Process Observation: Our team observed the clinic’s patient flow process from
and inter-departmental orders as
the perspective of the patient, physician and MA. We used spaghetti diagrams to
imperative to improved throughput.
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 hrs
Patient/Staff Observation Period