GE Healthcare and Virtua Health recently announced dramatic results from the first-ever hands-on Lean Healthcare Seminar held at three Virtua sites in New Jersey.
Attendees at the seminars represented hospitals from the United States, Scotland, Canada and England. By combining lean tools and GE’s Change Acceleration Process, seminar teams were able to drive significant results in just a few days, including:

• A 96-percent reduction in caregiver travel in the emergency department
• A 70-percent reduction in wait time for processing lab specimens
• More efficient use of clinician workspace
• Noticeably higher clinician and staff morale
• Significant cost-savings identification
• The elimination of the need to restock 57,000 items in central sterile processing

The seminar featured five kaizen events taking place simultaneously within a live hospital environment, in addition to educational content and speakers. Virtua was selected to host the event based in part on the organization’s success over the past several years in building a dynamic, performance-based culture.

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