ASQ Phoenix June 13, 2024 Program Meeting – Virtual
6:00pm – 8:00pm Phoenix (UTC: -7)
AGENDA: All times are Phoenix (MST):
6:00 pm – Gather
6:05 pm – Virtual Networking
6:30 pm – Welcome & Announcements
6:45 pm – Guest Speakers Panel Discussion
7:45 pm – Q&A
7:55 pm – Wrap-up
8:00 pm – Adjourn
Topic: Using Lean Six Sigma to Address Four Top Cost Saving Opportunities in the Clinical Laboratory
Lean is a management philosophy that focuses on creating value for customers while minimizing waste; Six Sigma is a methodology to eliminate defects and variability. They can be applied to many industries. Healthcare is a sector that encompasses services and products critical to improving health. Within healthcare, the clinical laboratory is where medical tests are performed on patient samples to aid in diagnosis and treatment. Lab services leverage 60-70% of critical decision-making such as admittance, discharge, and medication. Lean Six Sigma can be applied within the clinical laboratory. This presentation will give a brief overview of current laboratory industry challenges, then describe how lean Six Sigma can be used to address four top cost saving opportunities in lab.
Most Six Sigma practitioners know that improvement projects can have significant financial savings. Some have even said that Six Sigma is primarily about profitability, and quality and efficiency are just byproducts. It is important to capitalize on cost savings in the lab, as there is significant cost pressure on hospitals today. Due to changes in healthcare, leadership is rethinking how the lab operates. An overview of reimbursement decline will be reviewed. Given these challenges, lab costs must be targeted by lean Six Sigma. Four top cost saving opportunities include the costs of lab testing, lab labor, lab equipment/supplies and reference testing, and blood products. In line with Lean’s goals to create value for customers and minimize waste, and Six Sigma’s goal of financial savings, these four areas of focus in lab benefit from applying these principles.
Learning Objectives/Takeaways
1: Understand a brief overview of clinical laboratory reimbursement decline, as the industry backdrop necessitating targeting lab costs for reduction while maintaining patient care.
2: Define the philosophies of Lean and Six Sigma, including value creation for customers, minimization of waste, reduction of defects and variability, and creation of financial savings.
3: Learn more about four top cost savings opportunities in the clinical lab, and how applying lean Six Sigma concepts can improve them.
Speaker: Katie Castree Benyo
Bio: Ms. Katie Castree Benyo is a Client Account Lead at Accumen. In the Lab Excellence service line, she and her team of tenured lab experts assess the performance of hospital laboratories relative to their peers, recommend and implement operational efficiencies, improve quality and service results, and drive bottom line margin improvement. Using Accumen’s lab performance analytics technology, they utilize benchmarks and actionable insights to provide guidance that drives lab efficiencies and monitors outcomes of process improvement.
Katie holds a bachelor’s degree in Community Health from the University of Illinois, and a Master’s Degree in Health Administration from Saint Louis University. She is an ASQ-Certified Six Sigma Black Belt, a TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer through AHRQ, and holds a Certificate in Laboratory Quality Management Systems from CLSI. Her work and thought leadership have been published in “Value in Health: The Journal of the International Society of Pharmaco-economics and Outcomes Research” as well as ASQ’s “Lean & Six Sigma Review.” She is a frequent presenter at regional and national conferences, and a member of ASQ and ACHE. She resides in Saint Louis, MO.
LOCATION: via Zoom
COST: Free. Open to all.
We will be using Zoom Meeting to broadcast the April 11, 2024, ASQ Phoenix monthly Program meeting. Register in advance for this meeting:
Zoom registration link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAuc--sqj0pEtL3RRlweAwIypAHyvcQ8TBs
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email from Zoom containing the actual meeting link and information about joining the meeting, as well as the option to save the event details to your calendar. Save the confirmation email with the meeting JOIN button.