Written homework: VSM and Process Flow: You need to create that.

1. Students need to select a current process or system (e.g. patient check-in for a surgical procedure, consent forms for admission into a hospital, physician screening in an ER, etc.) in a healthcare environment that students identify as needing improvement to improve flow and reduce waste.
2. Students need to define the process and the population served; detail why the area is an important area to focus your process improvement efforts; describe how many patients/customers are served on a daily basis, who provides the services, hours of operation for the process, etc.
3. Students need to draw a value stream map (VSM) for the process identified including time stamps for each step in the process. Calculate cycle time, idle time, throughput time, takt time, and percent value added in the process.
4. Students need to describe in detail the muda (or areas of waste) in the system (e.g. DOWNTIME) you've identified in the system or process.
5. Students need to use Lean principles to describe the process improvement you would make to remove non-value-added activities and decreases the throughput time for the patient. Be specific with the principles you would use and why.
6. After students have described what tools they would use to improve the system or process and how, construct an updated VSM to highlight the new process including updated calculations on cycle time, throughput time, takt time, and percent value added in the process. Students need to describe what immediate changes you intend to see (e.g. increase in patient satisfaction, provider satisfaction, reduction in inventory waste, etc.).