How a Teaching Hospital Used Lean Six Sigma to Improve Patient Discharge and Bed Availability
Challenge: Improving Patient Flow and Discharge Efficiency
A leading urban teaching hospital, serving as a safety net for its community, faced significant challenges with inpatient discharge delays. Many patients had complex needs, including transportation issues, lack of housing stability, medication affordability, and language barriers. With only 44% of patients discharged before 2 PM, the hospital struggled to free up beds in a timely manner, creating bottlenecks in patient flow and impacting overall hospital capacity. To ensure patient safety and a seamless transition, social workers, translators, and other multidisciplinary staff needed to be engaged as part of the discharge process.
Solution: Lean Six Sigma-Driven Process Optimization
We implemented a structured Lean Six Sigma project using the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) methodology, complemented by a series of Kaizen events to drive rapid process improvements. Three key focus areas were identified:
Environmental Services (ES) Notification and Bed Turnaround – Streamlining the communication process for room cleaning to expedite bed availability.
Multidisciplinary Discharge Rounds and Communication Enhancement – Ensuring alignment among physicians, nurses, social workers, translators, medical students, and post-discharge service providers to address patient-specific needs.
Nursing Discharge Process Optimization – Improving workflow efficiency and eliminating non-value-added activities in final discharge procedures.
Implementation and Impact Through cross-functional collaboration and structured process improvements, we achieved the following results:
✅ 67% Reduction in Overall Discharge Cycle Time – The average discharge process duration was cut from over six hours to just two hours, significantly improving bed availability.
✅ 85% Reduction in ES Response Time – Previously, it took more than four hours to notify and clean a discharged patient's room. A new automated notification system reduced this to just 50 minutes.
✅ 50% Reduction in Post-Discharge Delays – By implementing a standardized multidisciplinary discharge round process, nurses, social workers, translators, medical students, and home health teams gained real-time visibility into pending discharges, allowing for better coordination and reducing last-minute service orders.
✅ 20% Cost Reduction – Optimizing discharge lounge staffing and eliminating unnecessary licensed personnel expenses contributed to financial benefits.
✅ Higher Patient Satisfaction – Patients reported improved experiences, with a more predictable discharge timeline and better communication from hospital staff.
Sustaining the Gains To ensure long-term success, we implemented Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for nursing teams, established visual management tools to track patient discharge status, and reinforced training across departments. A continuous improvement framework was put in place, allowing for ongoing refinement of the discharge process.
Why It Works
✔ Data-Driven Decisions – Leveraged real-time analytics to identify and eliminate bottlenecks.
✔ Cross-Functional Collaboration – Engaged physicians, nurses, social workers, translators, medical students, and support teams in Kaizen-driven problem-solving.
✔ Technology-Enabled Process Optimization – Automated notifications streamlined communication and expedited patient flow.
This transformation demonstrates how Lean Six Sigma methodologies drive tangible improvements in hospital efficiency, cost savings, and patient care quality. If your organization faces similar operational challenges, we can help implement structured solutions to enhance performance and service delivery.
Let’s discuss how we can optimize your processes for maximum impact. Contact us today!
