Quality and Lean Management in Healthcare: Collaborative Strategies for Improving Patient Care and Efficiency

Quality and Lean Management in Healthcare: Collaborative Strategies for Improving Patient Care and Efficiency

This comprehensive eLearning course is designed to equip healthcare professionals with the knowledge and tools needed to improve patient care, operational efficiency, and sustainability within healthcare organizations. Through a combination of theoretical lessons and practical examples, participants will explore key concepts such as quality management systems, lean methodology, Six Sigma, and the latest innovations in sustainable healthcare practices. The course also addresses critical issues such as preventing adverse events, enhancing operational efficiencies, and using data-driven approaches to achieve excellence and continuous improvement that support safer, more effective healthcare delivery.

Overall Course Outcomes:

This course equips healthcare professionals with essential quality and lean management tools to improve patient care and workflow efficiency. Participants will learn to reduce errors, standardize processes, and apply continuous improvement methods. They will gain practical skills to support safer, more efficient, and improved healthcare.

Course Objectives

By the end of this lesson, participants will be able to:

• Define quality in healthcare using expert perspectives and explain its key dimensions such as safety, effectiveness, and efficiency.

• Identify areas in current workflows that can be improved using core quality principles.

• Recognize and use the 7 basic quality tools to address problems and improve healthcare processes.

• Apply basic tools such as flow charts, cause-and-effect diagrams, and Pareto charts to analyze and solve quality issues.

• Use control charts to assess process stability and identify areas needing improvement.

• Apply the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle to improve healthcare processes and outcomes.

• Work with teams to conduct root cause analysis and develop solutions to address safety or quality issues.

• Explain Six Sigma principles and use the DMAIC method to reduce errors and improve care quality.

• Analyze quality issues using Six Sigma tools and suggest solutions to minimize defects in care delivery.

• Investigate sentinel events using root cause analysis and identify system-level failures to address.

• Use FMEA to identify risks in healthcare processes and prioritize preventive actions.

• Identify and reduce waste in healthcare processes using Lean principles.

• Apply Six Sigma to improve consistency and quality in critical healthcare workflows.

• Use the 5S method to organize and improve efficiency in the healthcare environment.

• Use the Kano Model to assess patient satisfaction and identify improvement priorities.

• Create value stream maps to identify non-value-added steps and streamline healthcare processes.

• Use visual management and cellular workflow strategies to reduce delays and improve process flow.

• Apply time-value mapping tools to enhance value-added time in patient care.

• Design visual management systems that improve safety and efficiency in healthcare settings.

• Set up work cells to optimize workflows and reduce unnecessary movement in healthcare tasks.

• Explain the role of standardization and benchmarking in improving care quality and process consistency.

• Benchmark healthcare practices against peers and adopt best practices to improve satisfaction and performance.

• Establish standardized procedures using Takt time, work sequence, and inventory levels to enhance reliability and reduce errors.