In order to increase organization and efficiency at hospitals, administrators should employ management tools such as the Toyota Production System, said healthcare futurist Joe Flower, who works with clients ranging from World Health Organization to Global Business Network.
For instance, Flower said, Seattle Children’s Hospital, which implemented a version of the Toyota Production System, was able to increase the number of patients it cared for by 50 percent in five years without adding any new beds or staff.
There are a wide variety of “new management” tools, from Six-Sigma quality techniques to “Theory of Constraints” analysis, to benchmarking, to the Toyota Production System, each appropriate for particular parts of managing healthcare, Flower said.
