Title: Operational excellence through Lean Six Sigma - a case of multi-specialty hospital

Authors: Manjeet Kharub; Sudhir Rana; P. Srinivas Reddy; Himanshu Gupta

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, CVR College of Engineering, Hyderabad, 501510, India ' College of Healthcare Management and Economics, Gulf Medical University, UAE ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, CVR college of Engineering, Hyderabad, 501510, India ' Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, Jharkhand, 826004, India

Abstract: This research aims to improve patient satisfaction by lowering wait times in a hospital's outpatient department. Lean Six Sigma (define, measure, analyse, improve, and control) was used to reach the target. VoC, VoB, COPIS flow chart, project charter, fishbone diagram, fitting line plots, DOE cube plot, and I-MR charts were used. Fluctuating staff numbers, physician availability, early morning meetings, an insufficient number of workers to handle registration counters, and a lack of regular processes caused long patient wait times. Statistically, patient satisfaction declines with waiting time. Design of experiment (DOE) found that on-site doctors increased patient satisfaction. The optimal wait time was 8.350 minutes. The team reduced the mean wait time from 24.257 to 9.18 minutes by employing 6.57 to 2.77 minutes. This case study's step-by-step strategy ensures LSS success in healthcare. The step-by-step approach described in this case study will ensure the success of LSS efforts in the healthcare industry.

Keywords: operational excellence; Lean Six Sigma; LSS; patient waiting time; healthcare; case study; design of experiment; DOE.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIMS.2023.132761

International Journal of Internet Manufacturing and Services, 2023 Vol.9 No.2/3, pp.291 - 316

Received: 16 Jul 2022
Accepted: 22 Aug 2022
Published online: 09 Aug 2023 *

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