According to Transforming Health Care Scheduling and Access, long waits for treatment are a function of the disjointed manner in which most health systems have evolved to accommodate the needs and the desires of doctors and administrators, rather than those of patients. The result is a health care system that deploys its most valuable resource-highly trained personnel-inefficiently, leading to an unnecessary imbalance between the demand for appointments and the supply of open appointments. This study makes the case that by using the techniques of systems engineering, new approaches to management, and increased patient and family involvement, the current health care system can move forward to one with greater focus on the preferences of patients to provide convenient, efficient, and excellent health care without the need for costly investment. Transforming Health Care Scheduling and Access identifies best practices for making significant improvements in access and system-level change. This report makes recommendations for principles and practices to improve access by promoting efficient scheduling. This study will be a valuable resource for practitioners to progress toward a more patient-focused "How can we help you today?" culture.

This book enables enterprise business leaders - from CEOs to supervisors - to understand what "Continuous Improvement" is, why it is probably the best answer to improved business performance in years, and how to put it to work in the unique environment of a specific organization. The book examines what is at the core of "Continuous Improvement" and delves deeper into the elements and constituents necessary to take an organization to the next level to ensure its continued, long-term existence. It provides guidance to enterprise management and to professionals engaged in the implementation of a "Continuous Improvement" initiative and enables them to structure and manage its implementation successfully. It also provides tools to quickly assess where an enterprise business stands in terms of strategic management and "Continuous Improvement".​

Kaizen means gradual, unending improvement, doing "little things" better; setting --and achieving --ever higher standards. It is Kaizen, says Masaaki Imai, that is the simple truth behind Japan's economic "miracle" and the real reason the Japanese have become the masters of "flexible manufacturing" technology -- the ability to adapt manufacturing processes to changing customer and market requirements, and do it fast ... For the first time, Western managers have a comprehensive handbook of 16 Kaizen management practices they can put to work. Using more than 100 examples of Kaizen in action, 15 corporate case studies, and 50 charts and graphs, Mr. Imai examines step by step all the roles Kaizen plays in. --inside cover

When it comes to making your business more profitable and successful, don't look to re-engineering for answers. A better way is to apply the concept of kaizen, which mean making simple, common-sense improvements and refinements to critical business processes.The result: greater productivity, quality, and profits achieved with minimal cost, time, and effort invested. In this book, you discover how to maximize the results of kaizen by applying it to gemba--business processes involved in the manufacture of products and the rendering of services--the areas of your business where, as the author puts it, the "real action" takes place.

This handbook provides a comprehensive and detailed framework for the implementation of "Continuous Improvement" and Lean Six Sigma in a professional project management environment. For this purpose the book brings together Lean Six Sigma and the PMBOK standard for project management. It provides an integrated approach, which can be used for both transactional and manufacturing businesses to better define ways to reduce costs, enhance processes ,and achieve faster implementation and new product or service development. The reader is guided carefully and reliably through the detailed procedures introduced in this book using a comprehensive, conceptual and practical well-balanced approach.