Many healthcare organizations, including hospitals, labs, payors, equipment manufacturers and vendors, have implemented a formal process improvement program in recent years. Using PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act), Lean, Work-Out, Six Sigma and many more approaches, these organizations have improved both clinical and administrative processes. The benefits include improvements to patient safety, treatment, services and outcomes, as well as significant cost savings for every area of the organization. I’d like to share two new case studies that demonstrate the success of applying Performance Excellence principles in a healthcare setting.

McKesson’s Improvement Program Makes for Satisfied Customers and Employees
McKesson has been providing medical products for more than 175 years, making it the oldest healthcare services company in the United States. It’s also the largest, and ranks No. 18 on the Fortune 500. When McKesson deployed Six Sigma in 1998, it was sitting at a distant third in the healthcare services industry in terms of market share and customer satisfaction. Now it is at the top, in part because of its process improvement program. Click here to download a complimentary copy of this success story from Innovation 360.

Using Lean Six Sigma to Reduce Lab Cycle Time at Health Canada
The Drug Analysis Service (DAS) of Health Canada analyzes suspected illegal drugs seized by Canadian police forces. The four regional DAS labs are charged with determining chemically whether or not the exhibits are controlled substances. Since 2005, both the costs and backlog associated with analysis have been increasing. Moreover, a lack of resources and space has compounded the problem. This case study demonstrates how the organization used Lean Six Sigma to reduce the backlog and the drug analysis cycle time in one lab. Click here to download a complimentary copy of this case study from Innovation 360.

I hope you find these examples helpful. If you have a success story from healthcare you’d like to share, I’d love to hear it.