Title: Hospital registration waiting time reduction through process redesign

Authors: Qian Yu, Kai Yang

Addresses: Department of Business Practice, John D. Dingell VA Medical Center, 4646 John R. Street, Detroit, MI 48201, USA. ' Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Wayne State University, 4815 Fourth Street, Detroit, MI 48201, USA

Abstract: The registration process is the first process that patients interact with hospitals. The quality of experience in registration will form the perceptions for hospitals. The waiting time is an important performance metric for the registration process. In this paper, a rigorous Lean Six Sigma approach is used to analyse an existing registration process and the root causes for the long average waiting time are identified. Lean operation principles are used to redesign the registration process. After the implementation, a drastic reduction in the average waiting time is achieved and sustained.

Keywords: hospital waiting times; healthcare; lean six sigma; hospital registration; process redesign; waiting time reduction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSCA.2008.021838

International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, 2008 Vol.4 No.3, pp.240 - 253

Published online: 05 Dec 2008 *

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