Al Iman Hospital Improving Patient Flows
Increasing operating room capacity in the Middle East would reduce wait times, improve the flow and quality of patient care and lower costs.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health established a plan to increase access and improve patient flow across 12 major hospitals in the Kingdom. Al Iman Hospital launched the first project focused on improving operating room efficiencies.
The Ministry teamed up with GE Healthcare Performance Solutions to identify “pain points” in the hospital’s operations and implement efficiency improvement processes. The staff was introduced to Lean and Six Sigma techniques, change-acceleration triggers and other quality improvement methodologies during the project.
“Now the hospital can handle more cases in operating theaters without the cost of building new facilities or expanding operating room space.”
— Dr. Yasser Basatini
Al Iman’s Medical Director
As a result, utilization of elective operating rooms increased by 80 percent and patient caseloads rose per week by 27 percent. The hospital also reduced surgical elective waiting lists by 52 percent and improved surgical start times by 57 percent.
Now the hospital can handle more cases in operating theaters without the cost of building new facilities or expanding operating room space. And the hospital staff has taken ownership of the changes occurring across their departments.
Change Acceleration Process sessions, knowledge transfer and coaching were integral to the project. Trained on how to sustain the projects and introduce new ones, the staff undertook several new initiatives. Among the issues addressed are the development of a pre-anesthesia clinic, creation of a surgical list manager function and improved communication between the inpatient wards and the operating room.
Meanwhile, the Performance Solutions team helped other Ministry hospitals involved in the initiative achieve similar results. They helped improve utilization levels at all the hospitals, by as much as 36 percent in one case, thereby reducing waiting lists and improving the overall experience of surgical patients. Performance Solutions is helping to make quality healthcare available to patients across Saudi Arabia.
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