Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR QUALITY IN HEALTH CARE
Volume 31, Issue -, Pages 14-21Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/intqhc/mzz083
Keywords
Lean Six Sigma; enhanced recovery after surgery; thoracic surgery
Funding
- School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Sciences, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
- Mater Lean Academy, Transformation Office, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Eccles Street, Dublin 7, Ireland
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Objective: The aim of this study is to improve rates of day of surgery admission (DOSA) for all suitable elective thoracic surgery patients. Design: Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methods were used to enable improvements to both the operational process and the organizational working of the department over a period of 19 months. Setting: A national thoracic surgery department in a large teaching hospital in Ireland. Participants: Thoracic surgery staff, patients and quality improvement staff at the hospital. Intervention(s): LSS methods were employed to identify and remove the non-value-add in the patient's journey and achieve higher levels of DOSA. A pre-surgery checklist and Thoracic Planning Meeting were introduced to support a multidisciplinary approach to enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS), reduce rework, improve list efficiency and optimize bed management. Main Outcome Measure(s): To achieve DOSA for all suitable elective thoracic surgery patients in line with the National Key Performance Indicator of 75%. A secondary outcome would be to further decrease overall length of stay by 1 day. Results: Over a 19 month period, DOSA has increased from 10 to 75%. Duplication of preoperative tests reduced from 83 to <2%. Staff and patient surveys show increased satisfaction and improved understanding of ERAS. Conclusions: Using LSS methods to improve both operational process efficiency and organizational clinical processes led to the successful achievement of increasing rates of DOSA in line with national targets.
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