Contents Contents The Definitive Guide to Emergency Department Operational Improvement The Definitive Guide to Emergency Department Operational Improvement Employing Lean Principles with Current ED Best Practices to Create the “No Wait” Department Second Edition Jody Crane, MD, MBA and Chuck Noon, PhD A PRODUCTIVITY PRESS BOOK Second edition published in 2020 by Routledge/Productivity Press 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, 11th Floor New York, NY 10017 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN, UK © 2020 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Routledge/Productivity Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Printed on acid-free paper International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4987-7450-5 (Paperback) International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-367-43233-1 (Hardback) International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-315-15191-5 (eBook) This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. 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Description: Second edition. | New York : Routledge, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019036080 (print) | LCCN 2019036081 (ebook) | ISBN 9781498774505 (paperback) | ISBN 9780367432331 (hardback) | ISBN 9781315151915 (ebook) Subjects: MESH: Emergency Service, Hospital--organization & administration | Quality Improvement--organization & administration | Efficiency, Organizational | United States Classification: LCC RA975.5.E5 (print) | LCC RA975.5.E5 (ebook) | NLM WX 215 | DDC 362.18068--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019036080 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019036081 Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com Contents Preface ....................................................................................................................................xiii Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................xv Authors ...................................................................................................................................xvii 1 Introduction to The Definitive Guide to Emergency Department Operational Improvement ................................................................................................................1 Institute of Medicine Report ..............................................................................................1 The National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2014 ........................................2 The American College of Emergency Physicians’ State of Emergency Medicine National Report Card ........................................................................................................2 Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) ......................................................2 The Safety Net No Longer Exists .......................................................................................4 Patient Demographics in Evolution ....................................................................................5 Patient Satisfaction ............................................................................................................9 Quality .............................................................................................................................10 The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Publically Reported Measures .....14 Other Challenges We Face ................................................................................................14 The Fix ..............................................................................................................................15 The Role of Lean Thinking in ED Operations Improvement ............................................16 A Focus on Creating Patient Value ....................................................................................17 Eliminating Waste ........................................................................................................18 Promoting Flow ...........................................................................................................18 Continuously Improving the Processes and the People .................................................19 Notes ...............................................................................................................................20 References .........................................................................................................................21 2 Value Stream Mapping ...............................................................................................23 Value Stream Mapping .....................................................................................................25 Muda—The Eight Wastes ................................................................................................28 Lead Time .......................................................................................................................29 The Value Stream Mapping Process ..................................................................................31 Step 1—Clearly Define Your Service Families ..............................................................31 Step 2—Gather Your Team and Walk the Process ......................................................32 Step 3—Complete Your Current State Map .................................................................33 Value-Added Ratios ................................................................................................37 Step 4—Identify Value and Waste Where Lean Tools Are Needed .............................38 Step 5—Complete Your Future State Map ..................................................................39 v vi ◾ Contents Step 6—Create Your Own Vision, Strategy, and Plan .................................................40 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................40 Suggested Reading ............................................................................................................41 3 Standard Work ...........................................................................................................43 Takt Time—Quantifying Demand .................................................................................44 Work Sequence and Cycle Times—Quantifying Capacity ...............................................47 Basic Approach for Improving Standard Work .................................................................47 Evaluating the Current State ............................................................................................48 Identifying Waste ............................................................................................................56 Modify Existing Processes ...............................................................................................58 Substantiating and Enumerating Improvements ..............................................................58 Implement New Standard Work ......................................................................................58 Standard Work in Process .................................................................................................59 SWIP Example—New ED ..........................................................................................59 Load Chart ......................................................................................................................60 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................60 Note .................................................................................................................................60 Suggested Reading ............................................................................................................61 4 5-S Workplace Organization ......................................................................................63 Seiri—Sort ......................................................................................................................64 Seiton—Simplify ..............................................................................................................65 Visual Management Types ..........................................................................................66 Visual Controls in Healthcare .....................................................................................72 Examples of Simplify ...................................................................................................74 Seiso—Sweep ....................................................................................................................74 Seiketsu—Standardize, and Shitsuki—Sustain ..................................................................74 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................78 Mary Washington Nursing Station 5-S Event .............................................................78 Note .................................................................................................................................86 Suggested Reading ...........................................................................................................86 5 Inventory Management Basics ...................................................................................87 What Is Inventory? ..........................................................................................................87 Push and Pull Systems .................................................................................................88 Inventory in Healthcare ..............................................................................................88 Continuous versus Periodic Inventory Review ........................................................89 Inventory Review Examples ....................................................................................90 Real-World Complexities in ED Inventory Management .................................................92 Calculating Reorder Points..........................................................................................94 Point-of-Use Supplies .......................................................................................................96 Kanban Systems ..........................................................................................................98 Mary Washington Hospital and Stafford Hospital Point-of-Use Supply/5-S Event ........100 Main ED Supply-Based Value Stream Map ...............................................................100 Spaghetti Diagram .....................................................................................................101 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................106 Contents ◾ vii Appendix 5.A: Inventory Reorder Calculations ..............................................................106 Suggested Reading ..........................................................................................................109 6 Rapid Changeover ....................................................................................................111 The Approach to Changeover Improvement ....................................................................112 Identify All of the Steps in a Process ..........................................................................112 Classify Steps as Internal or External .........................................................................113 Eliminate Any Activities That Do Not Appear to Be Necessary or Add Value ...........113 Convert Any of the Remaining Activities from Internal to External When Possible ......114 Appropriately Staff, Choreograph, and Practice the Remaining Activities ..................116 An Example of This Decision-Making Process ...........................................................116 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................116 Suggested Reading ..........................................................................................................117 7 Mistake Proofing ......................................................................................................119 Brain-Deliberated Functions ...........................................................................................121 Approaching Mistake Proofing .......................................................................................121 Clearly Delineate the Intention of the Process ...........................................................122 Clearly Define the Problem as It Relates to the Intention ..........................................122 Brainstorm All of the Possible Defects Contributing to the Problem and Classify Them into Subgroups and Types of Human Error .......................................122 Ishikawa Diagrams (Fishbone or Cause-and-Effect Diagrams) .............................123 Develop a System to Collect Information on Process Defects and Outcomes Defects and Represent Them in a Frequency Distribution or Pareto Format .............124 Determine the Root Cause of the Defect ...................................................................125 Design the Appropriate Countermeasure Based on the Information Above ..............126 Examples of Mistake Proofing .......................................................................................128 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................130 Notes .............................................................................................................................130 Suggested Reading .........................................................................................................130 8 Lean Flow .................................................................................................................131 Background ....................................................................................................................131 Queues, Queues, Everywhere ..........................................................................................133 The Role of Utilization....................................................................................................139 Improving the Performance of a Queue ..........................................................................141 Reduce the Rate of Arrivals ........................................................................................141 Increase the Rate of Service ........................................................................................141 Reduce the Variation in Service ..................................................................................142 Reduce the Variation in Arrivals.................................................................................144 Before Adding Servers, Check the Alignment .................................................................144 Network of Queues .........................................................................................................150 Look for the Bottleneck Server .......................................................................................151 The Theory of Constraints ..............................................................................................153 Reduce the Number of Queues in a Process ....................................................................154 Concurrency Can Help ...................................................................................................156 Pooling Servers ...............................................................................................................156 viii ◾ Contents Segmenting Flow ............................................................................................................158 Psychology of Waiting ....................................................................................................159 Appendix 8.A: Example Queuing Calculations Using Approximation Formulas ............159 Notes ..............................................................................................................................162 References .......................................................................................................................162 9 ED Flow as a Network of Queues—Matching Demand and Capacity.....................163 The Door-to-Doc Interval—Straightforward Queuing Analysis .....................................164 The Doc-to-Disposition Interval—Analyzing the Next Network of Queues ..................173 The Critical Servers in the ED ....................................................................................173 The Doctor Server ..................................................................................................174 The Nurse Server ...................................................................................................179 The Bed Server .......................................................................................................182 Ancillary Services .......................................................................................................185 Disposition-to-Departure—A Much More Complex Queuing System ...........................185 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................187 10 The Lean ED—Lean Applications in a 100,000‑Visit Emergency Department .......189 Background ....................................................................................................................189 The Lean Vision ..............................................................................................................192 Super Track .....................................................................................................................194 Rapid Assessment and Treatment in the Emergency Room “Rated ER” ........................202 Results ............................................................................................................................213 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................215 11 Best Practices—The Door‑to‑Doc Interval ...............................................................217 Fixing the Front End .....................................................................................................220 Fixing the Traditional ED .............................................................................................222 Door-to-Triage ..........................................................................................................222 Triage-to-Bed Assignment .........................................................................................224 Diagnostic Orders .................................................................................................225 Specimen Collection .............................................................................................225 Treatment Orders .................................................................................................225 Advanced Approaches to Fixing the Front End ..............................................................226 No Triage—“Direct Pullback” ..................................................................................226 Advanced Practice Clinician in Triage ......................................................................227 Patient Intake—Immediate Physician Assessment .....................................................228 Intake Systems ...........................................................................................................230 Redesigning the Front End .............................................................................................233 An Understanding of Patient Demand and Acuity .....................................................233 Appropriately Capacitated Triage Process and System ...............................................234 A System for Patient Segmentation .............................................................................235 Distinct Processes for Different Patient Segments .....................................................236 Dedicated Provider ....................................................................................................236 Point-of-Use Supplies ................................................................................................237 Radiology and Lab Services for the Front End ..........................................................238 Results Waiting Area .................................................................................................238 Contents ◾ ix Method of Tracking Patients and Results ...................................................................241 A Method to Track Outcomes Data ...........................................................................241 Designing the No-Wait Emergency Department of the Future .......................................241 The Pivot or Quick-Look Nurse and Patient Segmentation .......................................243 Super Track Process Design.......................................................................................244 Designing an Intake System .......................................................................................247 Reception, Mini-Registration, Quick-Look Design ....................................................249 Mini-Triage Design ....................................................................................................250 Intake Team Design ...................................................................................................251 Results Waiting Area Design ......................................................................................252 Designing the Treatment Area ...................................................................................253 Other Innovations ......................................................................................................253 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................254 Notes .............................................................................................................................254 12 Best Practices—Doc‑to‑Disposition Interval ...........................................................257 Alignment of Your Critical Resources .............................................................................257 Patient Care Teams ........................................................................................................263 Critical Servers in the Emergency Department ..............................................................264 Physicians and Advanced Practice Clinicians as Critical Servers ....................................266 Nurses as Critical Servers ................................................................................................270 Understand Factors That Cause Variation around Nursing Staffing ...............................272 Beds as Critical Servers ...................................................................................................274 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................279 Notes .............................................................................................................................279 References ......................................................................................................................279 13 Best Practices—The Dispo‑to‑Departure Interval ...................................................281 Inpatient Utilization and the Effect on ED Boarding .....................................................281 The Boarding Problem ..............................................................................................282 Quantifying the Financial Impact of Walkouts and Diversions .................................286 Countermeasures for Hospital Overcrowding and ED Boarding ...................................288 If All Else Fails … Push Patients .....................................................................................291 If You Don’t Have An Inpatient Problem, Look At Your Process ...................................292 The Effective Disposition—Doctor ................................................................................294 The Effective Disposition—Nurse .................................................................................295 Clinical Decision Units ..................................................................................................295 Hospital-Wide Patient-Flow Teams ................................................................................296 The Rest of the Value Stream .........................................................................................298 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................298 Notes .............................................................................................................................298 14 Patient Experience ....................................................................................................299 Horizontal versus Vertical Patients .................................................................................303 How Do You Create Satisfied Patients? ..........................................................................304 Staff Satisfaction ............................................................................................................308 A Standardized Approach to Patient Experience and Culture .........................................310