Open AccessThe Lean method as a clinical pathway facilitator in patients with lung cancer
Author(s) -
Aasebø Ulf,
Strøm Hans Henrik,
Postmyr Merete
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the clinical respiratory journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.789
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1752-699X
pISSN - 1752-6981
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-699x.2011.00271.x
Subject(s) - medicine , lung cancer , referral , facilitator , radiation therapy , cancer , surgery , nursing , political science , law
Patient flow during workup for lung cancer is often difficult to influence because of delay at many levels: patient delay, doctors' delay and waiting time for X‐ray and CT scan, referral to specialist, and waiting time for chemotherapy and radiotherapy or surgery. A mean workup time of 4 months is not unusual. Objectives: To improve quality and shorten the workup time for patients with lung cancer. Methods: It was decided to employ a program designed by the Toyota car industry, the Lean process, as a tool to improve workup time. A Lean process implicates all levels of an institution with project and focus groups having workshops to analyse present status and suggest improvements. Results: Since introducing the Lean project, we have decreased the workup time from a mean of 64 days to 16 days, and the median time from diagnosis to surgery was reduced from 26.5 days to 15 days. Conclusion: It is feasible to improve patient flow for patients with lung cancer by employing the Lean method as a pathway instrument. Please cite this paper as: Aasebø U, Strøm HH and Postmyr M. The Lean method as a clinical pathway facilitator in patients with lung cancer. Clin Respir J 2012; 6: 169–174.