The Journey Begins
The team wanted to approach this task
from a process improvement perspective
and take two simple Lean Six Sigma tools
and put them to work:
•• Voice of the Customer (VoC). This is
the surveys with comments. The comments
make a difference; a circle filled
in gives limited information. The comments
tell the story of how the patient
feels and what they want.
•• The Affinity Diagram. This Lean Six
Sigma tool is very easy to use and it
facilitates everyone’s involvement in
the process. The Affinity Diagram
is a tool in which the team takes like
items and groups them, and then the
groupings are titled. Once the groupings
are titled, the team determines
which groupings are to be addressed
Remember, the items to look at should
be the ones that will make the biggest
impact for patients, yet are attainable.
There will be constraints. Even with
the team using Lean Six Sigma tools, a
facility will not be able to accomplish
everything the patient may want. Set
guidelines and establish rules for the
team because if they aren’t in place the
team will quickly become frustrated, lose
focus, and not be successful.
First, the idea for the process improvement
plan was presented to senior leadership.
The goal in doing this was to get
approval, as well as support and involvement.
In order for everyone to view the
project as important, senior leadership
needed to approve the project, be at the
meetings, and be actively engaged with
the team. The second step was to review
all surveys from the previous month.
They were reviewed for both ambulatory
services and outpatient services. These
two areas encompass 20 different departments,
which all get patient satisfaction
scores. These departments include:
•• Ambulatory Services
•• Cardiac Cath Lab
•• Endoscopy
•• Outpatient Surgery
•• Surgery
•• Outpatient Services
•• Ambulatory Care
•• Cardiology
•• Respiratory
•• Laboratory
•• CT
•• CT (offsite)
•• Imaging
•• Imaging (offsite)
•• Ultrasound
•• Ultrasound (offsite)
•• Women’s Imaging
•• Women’s Imaging (offsite)
•• MRI
•• MRI (offsite)
•• Nuclear Medicine
•• Interventional Radiology