Using Lean Six Sigma to improve rates of day of surgery admission in a national thoracic surgery department

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to improve rates of day of surgery admission (DOSA) for all suitable elective thoracic surgery patients. DESIGN: Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methods were used to enable improvements to both the operational process and the organizational working of the department over a period of 19 months. SETTING: A national thoracic surgery department in a large teaching hospital in Ireland. PARTICIPANTS: Thoracic surgery staff, patients and quality improvement staff at the hospital. INTERVENTION(S): LSS methods were employed to identify and remove the non-value-add in the patient’s journey and achieve higher levels of DOSA. A pre-surgery checklist and Thoracic Planning Meeting were introduced to support a multidisciplinary approach to enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS), reduce rework, improve list efficiency and optimize bed management. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): To achieve DOSA for all suitable elective thoracic surgery patients in line with the National Key Performance Indicator of 75%. A secondary outcome would be to further decrease overall length of stay by 1 day. RESULTS: Over a 19 month period, DOSA has increased from 10 to 75%. Duplication of preoperative tests reduced from 83 to <2%. Staff and patient surveys show increased satisfaction and improved understanding of ERAS. CONCLUSIONS: Using LSS methods to improve both operational process efficiency and organizational clinical processes led to the successful achievement of increasing rates of DOSA in line with national targets.