Improving the medical records department processes by lean management
نویسندگان
1
2 Department of Management, School of Administrative Sciences and Economics, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
3 Department of Medical Education, Medical Education Development Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, 1
4
doi
چکیده
Background: Lean management is a process improvement technique to identify wasteactions and processes to eliminate them. The benefits of Lean for healthcare organizationsare that first, the quality of the outcomes in terms of mistakes and errors improves. Thesecond is that the amount of time taken through the whole process significantly improves.Aims: The purpose of this paper is to improve the Medical Records Department (MRD)processes at Ayatolah‑Kashani Hospital in Isfahan, Iran by utilizing Lean management.Materials and Methods: This research was applied and an interventional study. The datahave been collected by brainstorming, observation, interview, and workflow review. The studypopulation included MRD staff and other expert staff within the hospital who were stakeholdersand users of the MRD. Statistical Analysis Used: The MRD were initially taught the conceptsof Lean management and then formed into the MRD Lean team. The team then identified andreviewed the current processes subsequently; they identified wastes and values, and proposedsolutions. Results: The findings showed that the MRD units (Archive, Coding, Statistics, andAdmission) had 17 current processes, 28 wastes, and 11 values were identified. In addition,they offered 27 comments for eliminating the wastes. Conclusion: The MRD is the criticaldepartment for the hospital information system and, therefore, the continuous improvementof its services and processes, through scientific methods such as Lean management, areessential. Originality/Value: The study represents one of the few attempts trying to eliminatewastes in the MRD.
