For decades, the manufacturing industry has employed the Toyota Production System the most powerful production method in the world to reduce waste, improve quality, reduce defects and increase worker productivity. In 2001, Virginia Mason Medical Center, an integrated healthcare delivery system in Seattle, Washington set out to achieve its compe

According to Transforming Health Care Scheduling and Access, long waits for treatment are a function of the disjointed manner in which most health systems have evolved to accommodate the needs and the desires of doctors and administrators, rather than those of patients. The result is a health care system that deploys its most valuable resource--highly trained personnel--inefficiently, leading to an unnecessary imbalance between the demand for appointments and the supply of open appointments. This study makes the case that by using the techniques of systems engineering, new approaches to management, and increased patient and family involvement, the current health care system can move forward to one with greater focus on the preferences of patients to provide convenient, efficient, and excellent health care without the need for costly investment. Transforming Health Care Scheduling and Access identifies best practices for making significant improvements in access and system-level change. This report makes recommendations for principles and practices to improve access by promoting efficient scheduling. This study will be a valuable resource for practitioners to progress toward a more patient-focused "How can we help you today?" culture.

Health care organizations are challenged to improve care at the bedside for patients, learn from individual patients to improve population health, and reduce per capita costs. To achieve these aims, leaders are needed in all parts of the organization need positive solutions. Transforming Health Care Leadership provides healthcare leaders with the knowledge and tools to master the unprecedented level of change that health care organizations and their leaders now face. It also challenges management myths that served in bureaucracies but mislead in learning organizations.

A new release in the Quality Chasm Series, Priority Areas for National Action recommends a set of 20 priority areas that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other groups in the public and private sectors should focus on to improve the quality of health care delivered to all Americans. The priority areas selected represent the entire spectrum of health care from preventive care to end of life care. They also touch on all age groups, health care settings and health care providers. Collective action in these areas could help transform the entire health care system. In addition, the report identifies criteria and delineates a process that DHHS may adopt to determine future priority areas.

Using straightforward, accessible language, this groundbreaking resource is a comprehensive primer on the most progressive tools and techniques currently used for assessing healthcare systems and healthcare process effectiveness. Typically these tools are embedded in programs such as Total Quality Management, continuous process improvement, process reengineering, protocol redesign, or most recently, Six Sigma and organizational transformation. Transforming Health Care Management presents an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach while focusing on fundamental concepts. It will thoroughly prepare the reader to design, implement, manage, operate, monitor or improve technology, processes, and programs and is an ideal text for those studying healthcare information technology, operations research, systems analysis, process improvement, or informatics. Features: Chapters cover highly technical subjects using clear and accessible language. Vignettes from the author’s years of professional experience illustrate particularly complex concepts. Focuses on key concepts and applications rather than theory and jargon. Accompanied by a complete package of instructor resources (downloadable Instructor’s Manual, TestBank, PowerPoint slides) to facilitate teaching and learning.

This series is intended for the rapidly increasing number of health care professionals who have rudimentary knowledge and experience in health care computing and are seeking opportunities to expand their horizons. It does not attempt to compete with the primers already on the market. Eminent international experts will edit, author, or contribute to each volume in order to provide compre hensive and current accounts of innovations and future trends in this quickly evolving field. Each book will be practical, easy to use, and well referenced. Our aim is for the series to encompass all of the health profes sions by focusing on specific professions, such as nursing, in indi vidual volumes. However, integrated computing systems are only one tool for improving communication arnong members of the health care team. Therefore, it is our hope that the series will stimulate profes sionals to explore additional means of fostering interdisciplinary exchange. This series springs from a professional collaboration that has grown over the years into a highly valued personal friendship. Our joint values put people first. If the Computers in Health Care series lets us share those values by helping health care professionals to communicate their ideas for the benefit of patients, then our efforts will have succeeded.

This book explores the benefits of digital patient engagement, from the perspectives of physicians, providers, and others in the healthcare system, and discusses what is working well in this new, digitally-empowered collaborative environment. Chapters present the changing landscape of patient engagement, starting with the impact of new payment models and Meaningful Use requirements, and the effects of patient engagement on patient safety, quality and outcomes, effective communications, and self-service transactions. The book explores social media and mobile as tools, presents guidance on privacy and security challenges, and provides helpful advice on how providers can get started. Vignettes and 23 case studies showcase the impact of patient engagement from a wide variety of settings, from large providers to small practices, and traditional medical clinics to eTherapy practices.