A Well Designed Hospital Can Make it Much Better for Young Patients

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to observe and capture video of the Seattle Children’s Hospital’s surgical department’s patient flow.  Beginning at the hospital’s entrance, the Surgery Center’s system is designed to lead the patient through the process step-by-step, from start to finish.  A surgical nurse commented, “Because everything flows in one direction, it is very obvious if something is going the opposite direction; you know it is out of the ordinary and everyone can see that something is not following the standard work.” The patient flow system was designed so each Operating Room is served by two induction suites where the patients are cued up and ready for their procedure as soon as the room preparations are complete.   

In addition, I observed several simple visual controls that are used to indicate when a process is ready to be handed off from one team member to another.  For example, a sign on the post op door is flipped over when the patient is ready to be signed out.

The foundation of the one-piece flow of the Surgery Center is a large display of visual process maps and flow diagrams housed in an adjoining vacant hallway.  These maps and diagrams have been instrumental in helping staff members reach higher levels of understanding and application of standard work.

If you would like to see this short informative video tour of Seattle Children’s Hospital, attend the upcoming 5^Th Annual Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit in Los Angeles, June 4-5, 2014.    John Toussaint, MD, CEO of the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value will be highlighting what good looks like at Seattle Children’s Hospital, along with several others during his Keynote presentation. Read more about the Summit here:  Click to Register.

Steven Bollinger
Director Product Development
ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value