Phoenix Children’s Hospital recently implemented an IT modernization initiative, accomplishing with less than $10 million what typically costs others $100 million.
Through a lean IT plan, the organization was able to use funds to improve facilities and care for its pediatric patients, CIO David Higginson writes in an article for Heatlhcare IT News.
"Lean" strategies are modeled after Toyota's production system to target inefficiency and areas for quality improvement.
In its 18-month effort, Phoenix implemented an electronic medical record system, consolidated systems and built an enterprise data analytics program while significantly growing in size.
At Phoenix, that meant it was able to:
- Save $4.5 million a year by reducing ongoing and one-time vendor contracts
- Streamline IT infrastructure management
- Build a comprehensive enterprise data warehouse that provides self-service capabilities for users
- Place patient-specific iPads in each patient room without recurring annual costs
- Create a complex research computing environment with existing staff for $15,000, plus supercomputer and high-speed fiber network funded by donations
“With changing reimbursement models, changes in our population, and the slow conversion from large 1990s client-server software solutions to cloud-based rapid-development cycle services, healthcare IT must move to a high-return, low-cost model,” he says.
Safety-net providers have also seen improvements in cost containments after adopting lean strategies, FierceHealthcare previously reported.
UMass Memorial Health CEO Eric Dickson, M.D. calls lean strategy the “secret sauce” to cost containment there, because it trains everyone to be a problem-solver.