Healthcare and Nursing

Operational Implications of Process Improvement

Process improvement involves systematically examining and redesigning workflows
within an organization to make them more efficient and effective. It is a broad-based approach
that can be applied to any process, whether a healthcare facility, a hospital, or a service delivery
process. As organizations strive to become lean and agile, process improvement has become an
increasingly important tool for achieving operational efficiencies and improving quality. In this
case study, we will examine the operational implications of process improvement at a Pediatric
Hospital healthcare facility.

Operations Requirements

The operation requirements for the pediatric hospital are that the hospital should continue
to focus on increasing the number of patients served both geographically and within certain sub-
specialties. The hospital needs to become the No. 1 choice for parents and referring physicians
through quality achievements and availability of services. The hospital should also focus on
improving infrastructure, quality, and clinical programs. Additionally, the hospital requires a
well-functioning operations team that can effectively execute projects and processes, Adequate
resources to support the project or process (e.g. funding, people, equipment, etc.), and clear
objectives and goals that are aligned with the hospital’s strategy, A commitment from leadership
to continuous improvement, Engaged employees who are willing to participate in improvement
efforts, and finally Effective communication channels to share information and
feedback(Rodrigues et al., 2019).
The hospital also requires resources where it will need to invest in personnel, equipment,
and facilities to achieve its growth goals. While assessing what is working in the hospital, the
Center for Operations Excellence has successfully saved the hospital money and improved

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patient care. The Blue Belt training program has successfully engaged all levels of the
organization. Contrary to that, there is also what is not working; the hospital has not been
successful in attracting large grants and donations, and the hospital has not been successful in
recruiting gifted doctors, leading scientists, and other medical experts.

Literature Review and Scan of Operations Best Practices
A quantitative and qualitative benchmark shows that ACH has made continuous
improvement a strategic imperative across its entire enterprise. Other hospitals have continuous-
improvement programs but have not made it a strategic imperative in the same way. Secondly,
ACH is using lean six sigma to create a competitive advantage. Additionally, The Center for
Operations Excellence at ACH has successfully reduced wait times and increased efficiencies.
Finally, The Blue Belt training program at ACH focuses on department and functional leaders to
support the hospital’s goals.
The high-reliability healthcare organization’s initiative is a continuous improvement
program focusing on quality, access, and customer value. This initiative has successfully reduced
wait times, improved patient throughput, and increased customer satisfaction. The organization
has also successfully expanded its services without additional resources. Another initiative is a
continuous improvement program (Chand & Musitano, 2018). Continuous improvement
programs are designed to identify and address problems in an organization’s operations to
improve quality and efficiency.
Pediatric hospitals can implement this initiative by continuing to focus on quality, access,
and customer value. The organization can also continue to expand its services without expending
additional resources. Additionally, Pediatric hospitals can implement a continuous improvement
program by establishing a Center for Operations Excellence (COE). The COE can be responsible

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for identifying and addressing problems in the hospital’s operations. The COE can also provide
training and support to hospital staff on continuous improvement methods.
ACH was able to improve its MRI scheduling by level-loading its appointments. This
allowed for increased throughput without adding resources. Secondly, the COE has successfully
engaged all levels of the organization, from front-line staff to middle management. Finally, the
COE has been successful in helping the hospital achieve its strategic growth goals.
Recommendations for Improving Readiness for Transition from Volume-Based to

Value-Based Delivery of Health Care

ACH is ready to transition to a value-based delivery