Publications IPH Magazine IPH Magazine 13th: Annals Cost Reduction through Process Review

Losses and waste can decisively affect the performance of your health institution. We believe that more can be done with it, so we use tools and knowledge that enable the analysis of processes and the systematic and sustainable disposal of waste, whether of time, capacity, quality or cost (CHAVES FILHO, 2010).

We present the information to management and reduction of hospital costs; the use of management tools for effective reduction of costs: eliminating rework, optimization flow, reduce inventory, among others; and process management tools and the involvement of the teams in the solution and process optimization.

We recommend the standardization of care, support and management processes, investing in the review, automation and optimization thereof, eliminating everything that does not add value to the patient; the total costs and results management, seeking to increase the organization competitiveness, through the generation and proper analysis of strategic management and business information and assistance.

Focusing the solution in process management using the methodology LURE, Profit + Return for Lean Healthcare, Business Process Management, outcome indicators and Kaizen events, we present a case to demonstrate the results that can be obtained.

The addressed topics are: how was reversed the result of a hospital for an average primary surplus of more than 1 mm / month in 2015; how was the 6% reduction in monthly costs; how was reduced by 53% (R$ 653,000) the value in stock of expensive medicine in the warehouse (~ 24% of total stock); how monthly occupancy was increased of the rooms of the Surgical Center by 12%; how the queue for EV AMB Chemotherapy was reduced from 12 to zero days, keeping the occupation of 63%; how the patient will schedule appointments for a date up to 40% closer; how it gained 30% in space and 95% in agility for archiving / search records; how was the reduction from 11 to 6 days in the general average delivery time of pathological examinations (RELATÓRIO ANUAL ACCG 2015).

In the specified case, 3 macro solutions have been suggested to improve the hospital: programming of care (PCP elective consultations and QT application); reset handling and transport (layout and service personnel); and organization and resources management (forms, equipment and inventories).

At the end of the process, there was uniform distribution of patients throughout the day, schedule service, organization and resource management, expansion of service capacity, less waiting time to meet the patient and greater success in prescriptions.

Link: Lure Consultoria

José Geraldo B. Chaves Filho is Master of Science in Production Engineering Department at USP and Production Engineer - Materials UFSCar. Researcher and visiting professor at the Faculty of Technology GAP (UNIGAP), the Institute Dotis / IBEMEC and the Institute Francisco Ludovico (IFL).