Penn State program aims to cut health care costs
A new Penn State program is attempting to give front line health care employees tools to improve efficiencies and cut waste, according to an
article on the Penn State Newswire.
For example, clarifying medical orders, not having the right supplies and waiting for patients and lab results are all tasks that waste time, said Susan Sheehy, RN, director of education, innovation and implementation for Lean Healthcare West, in the article.
To address this, Sheehy, a doctoral candidate, will facilitate the first training program for 16 health care employees from long-term and acute-care facilities in north central Pennsylvania.
The training program adapts principles from the successful Toyota Production System to the health care industry using the "realizing exceptional VALUE IN EVERYDAY WORK" (reVIEW) curriculum. The focus is on examining current processes, taking the processes apart and finding ways to do things better, Sheehy explained.