Improving patient care in hospital

Norman Swan interviewed Dr Terry Platchek, Medical Director for Performance Improvement from the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University in California in this week's Health Report from the ABC.  The subject was the improvement of patient care in hospital by using a method similar to a production line, driven by an examination of the whole process, not just applying a bandaid to undesirable outcomes.  Platchek gave examples an improvement in the patient flow in Theatres to the extent that less recovery beds were needed, the elimination of the down time of an MRI machine obviating the need to purchase a new one, an improvement in doctor's appointment systems so patients don't have to wait and become more anxious, and ways to increase the amount of time nurses spend on patient care compared to other tasks.

You can read more in this paper:

Platchek T, Kim C. "Lean Health Care for the Hospitalist." Hospital Medicine Clinics 2012;1(1):e148-160