Health Care – OM in the News

Lean Six Sigma in Hospitals

Although Lean Six Sigma has its origins in manufacturing, many services effectively use it. One such example is the Oncology Department at UC San Diego Health.

The Oncology Department applied a variety of Lean Six Sigma tools to produce $3.73 million in additional annual revenue.

The main source of waste was identified to be the way that several cancer drugs were used in dosing. These drugs were placed in a vial by the manufacturer with a single use dosage concept. In many […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2023-05-10T05:53:01+00:00May 10, 2023|Tags: 6S, healthcare, lean, process improvement, six sigma, waste reduction|

Zipline Drones to Serve 10,000 Locations This Year

Zipline’s amazing delivery drone technology, which launched in Rwanda six years ago, has now made over a half a million deliveries of life-saving supplies in several African nations and Japan.

Currently, Zipline drones deliver to 3,000 hospitals around the world, and the company plans to serve 10,000 locations by the end of the year. Its sights are set on active drone delivery systems for a variety of purposes in the U.S. by the end of 2023.

Video Spotlight:

By Lisa M. Spencer|2023-04-26T07:44:14+00:00April 26, 2023|Tags: healthcare, logistics, medical supply chain, product design, quality, redundancy, reliability, safety, service design, sustainability, technology|

Profits Over Patients: Here Come the Roaches!

America’s largest hospital company has been putting patients at risk.

To increase profits, they have cut their staff and shrunk maintenance budgets, resulting in higher occurrences of sentinel events, including patient deaths. Both doctors and nurses have complained about the situation, but there seems to be a disconnect between the clinical staff and the leadership. In fact, hospital critics have been reprimanded. Money that could be used to fix the problems is allocated to bed capacity increases which boost revenue.

Video […]

By Corinne M. Karuppan, Ph.D.|2023-03-07T20:56:37+00:00March 8, 2023|Tags: competitivness, service quality, short term capacity, shortage, strategic capacity management, strategy, value, value analysis|

High-End Vets for the One Percent Pets

Some pets receive the royal treatment.

They are family, and therefore we treat them like family…or better! Responding to this sentiment, veterinary clinics have realized that the business prospects of offering the type of care humans wish for themselves are very good. Accordingly, vets have invested in large facility expansions and a diverse portfolio of services including exercise rooms, heated pools, and acupuncture. What does it take to get there and is this model here to stay?

Video Spotlight:

By Corinne M. Karuppan, Ph.D.|2023-01-30T20:53:05+00:00February 8, 2023|Tags: competitivness, facility design, facility layout, order winners, service design, service quality, strategic capacity management, strategy|