Simpler® Consulting Partners with National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH)

Sponsorship Will Strengthen Simpler Consulting’s Commitment to Improving Patient Care at Safety Net Hospitals

PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Simpler® Consulting L.P., a leading global management consulting firm, today announced it has become an official sponsor of the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH) to support the work of America’s safety net hospitals. Through the sponsorship, Simpler Consulting will participate in seminars, as well as provide NAPH members with complimentary books and information focused on how to use healthcare Lean management techniques to improve patient care and reduce costs across the organization.

“Each year, NAPH works with its member hospitals to cut expensive and inefficient use of hospital services, which is at the root of Simpler’s Lean management principles,” said Steve Matteson, vice president, client services, Simpler Healthcare. “Through our work with NAPH members Denver Health and New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), we have witnessed how these two leading public healthcare organizations have utilized Lean to reinvest their cost-savings back into providing quality healthcare to patients in need.”

Simpler has assisted with Lean at Denver Health and HHC to develop a coordinated care model that aims to deliver greater value to patients, providers and payers through utilization of Lean principles. Lean is a management and improvement approach that enables the true performance potential of a business (like a hospital) or a process (like admitting patients) to be realized. The concept of Lean management was developed at Toyota. Its Toyota Production System uses Lean principles throughout the enterprise to produce products at lower volumes with fewer defects. In practice, Lean achieves this through the fundamental applications of various tools that help employees see and eliminate waste.

Through its Lean initiatives, Denver Health has experienced a financial benefit of more than $150 million over six years—all while improving patient care—and HHC, which began its Lean transformation in 2007, has realized more than $200 million in new revenue and cost savings. For example, Denver Health saved about $1.75 million by trimming hospital stays and reducing the use of an expensive form of heparin to treat and prevent blood clots in patients, while HHC’s Kings County Hospital reduced the total time a patient spends in the emergency room by 36 minutes, and cut the time it took for a patient to be triaged in half.

“NAPH is dedicated to supporting safety net hospitals in their goal to provide patients access to the highest quality of healthcare, regardless of their ability to pay,” said Jill Steinbrugge, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president for Leadership and Innovation, NAPH. “We are pleased that Simpler will be partnering with our members on how to effectively manage costs and improve care through the adoption of enterprise-wide Lean transformation.”

About the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH)

NAPH represents the nation’s largest metropolitan hospitals and health systems, which fulfill a safety net mission of providing care to low-income individuals. These facilities provide high‐quality health services for all patients, including the uninsured and underinsured, regardless of ability to pay. In addition to functioning as the country’s default national health insurance system, safety net hospitals provide many essential community-wide services, such as primary care, trauma care, and neonatal intensive care. Safety net hospitals also train many of America’s doctors, nurses, and other health care providers. Since its inception in 1980, NAPH has cultivated a strong presence on Capitol Hill, with the executive branch, and in many state capitols. NAPH advocates on behalf of its members on such issues as Medicaid, Medicare, and access to health care services for vulnerable populations. For more information, visit www.naph.org.

About Simpler Consulting, L.P.

Simpler Consulting, L.P. is a leading global management consulting firm that helps companies improve processes to stimulate business-impacting results. Unlike traditional management consulting firms that specialize in developing strategy but fall short on execution, Simpler plays an active role helping clients to create an organizational culture that continuously seeks out opportunities to make improvements. With its proprietary Simpler Business System®, Simpler has delivered the fastest and most enduring Lean transformations at hundreds of organizations across a wide array of industries including manufacturing, government, insurance and healthcare. To learn more, visit www.simpler.com.

© 2012 Simpler Consulting, L.P.



CONTACT:

Simpler Consulting
Katy Dowd, 336-926-4422
[email protected]
or
Schwartz MSL Boston
Krystin Hayward/Lauren Petit, 781-684-0770
[email protected]

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  Pennsylvania

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:   Health  Hospitals  Professional Services  Consulting  General Health

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