Green Operations Series: Improving Processes, Increasing Efficiency and Reducing Waste: The LEAN Model Applied in Healthcare

Overview

Session Description

“Lean” is a process that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination. Sustainability considers how to make processes run more efficiently and effectively while minimizing environmental impact and/or waste—whether that waste be in the form of labor, excess chemicals, energy use or solid waste produced. Hospitals that think about how to overlay these two sets of thinking can reap substantial benefits in the form of reduced labor, increased staff and customer satisfaction, reduced waste and cost savings. This webinar will describe the visual workplace, including an overview of the lean system of 5 S in the hospital setting and discuss the interrelationship between lean and environmental sustainability. Tracy Abatsis, a nurse and Kaizen coach at MetroWest Medical Center will detail how her hospital has applied lean as a mechanism to identify problem areas and opportunities for improvement. Tracy will highlight how—in collaboration with MWMC’s Green Team, she has applied lean principles to benefit the organization.

Learning Objectives

Describe the relationship between Green Teams and Lean teams and the use of 5S as a visual management tool
Empower staff to make changes leading to the elimination of waste (e.g., inventory, waiting, over production)
Develop a plan to redeploy resources (e.g., additional equipment, supplies) to areas of need
Promote patient and workplace safety by identifying a place for everything and sustaining everything in its place

Presenters

Tracy Abatsis, RN, MetroWest Medical Center
Tracy Abatsis is a Registered Nurse since 1976, who has been employed for over 30 in the hospital setting. Tracy has extensive experience in the Critical Care areas and left the role of the Nursing Supervisor over a year ago to join the Lean Department atMWMC. Since joining the Lean department, Tracy has been the lead trainer for the 5 S process and has facilitated Kaizen events on improving patient flow. Tracy also participates on MWMC’s Green Team and collaborates regularly with MWMC’s Sustainability Director, Dr. Amy Collins, on green initiatives across the hospital setting.