ABSTRACT
This chapter provides practical knowledge to improve emergency department psychiatric operations. The emergency department (ED) is the doorway to the hospital serving people at some of the toughest times of their lives. Many EDs across the country have found that Lean process improvement methodologies have helped them eliminate waits and provide improved care to patients. These same principles can be applied to the care of patients with psychiatric emergencies. Lean is an operations management approach to eliminating waste in a system. It was first described after a study of the success of the Toyota manufacturing system. The key principles in Lean healthcare are: focusing on patient value, eliminating waste, promoting flow through the system, and creating a culture of continuous improvement. The chapter discusses a case study which illustrates how Lean can be used to transform an ED with an introduction to each step.
