Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Relationship designed to enrich curriculum of successful Lean instructional program
ATLANTA—November 4, 2013—Healthcare Performance Partners, a MedAssets company, today announced a collaboration with Denver Health and Hospital Authority to enrich the Denver, Colo.-based healthcare provider’s Lean Academy course offerings, as well as to improve and supplement the organization’s overall Lean management systems. Plans call for expanding and deepening the program’s curriculum through the contributions of additional Lean practitioners with the ultimate goal of improving industry access to the repeatable methodologies that already have improved Denver Health’s operational efficiency, patient safety, quality and reliability.
“We take to heart the spirit of continuous improvement and are on a quest to take our organization and the Lean Academy to the next level,” said Art Gonzalez, chief executive officer, Denver Health. “We are confident that our collaboration with Healthcare Performance Partners will enable Denver Health to further the success of our Lean Academy, as well as our own learning.”
According to Gonzalez, Denver Health’s Lean improvement program was launched in 2005 and is recognized as one of the most successful Lean programs in the healthcare industry. While the results to date have been impressive, the health system recognized the opportunity to augment its Lean program by implementing systems to better manage and prioritize efforts and to tie them to long-term business priorities. Healthcare Performance Partners also will continue to build upon its work to coordinate multiple Lean initiatives across the organization in support of the Denver Health strategic and annual plans.
“We’re excited that Healthcare Performance Partners was selected to help Denver Health build upon the solid program foundation it has established, as well as support them in their collaborative efforts to share Lean knowledge and practices with the rest of the healthcare industry at this critical time in its evolution,” said Charles Hagood, president, Healthcare Performance Partners. “Our instructional designers, professional consultants, facilitators and trainers have been hard at work to add value to both Denver Health’s internal Lean development, as well as its Lean Academy.”
The initial launch of new course offerings include a redesigned Lean executive site visit program, as well as a multiple-day course designed to educate participants on the tools and techniques that comprise Denver Health’s Lean management system. The next executive site visit is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 12, and Friday, Dec. 13, 2013. A new course offering, Lean Management Systems: Beyond Kaizen Events, is scheduled for Jan. 29-31, 2014. The course will introduce participants to Lean concepts for leadership roles and illustrate the differences between Lean leadership and typical management-by-objective models. More of these courses, as well as other types of courses, are to be announced within the next few weeks. Visit www.denverhealth.org/leanacademy for more information.
About Denver Health
Denver Health is the Rocky Mountain Region’s Level I academic trauma center, and the safety net hospital for the Denver area. The Denver Health system, which integrates acute and emergency care with public and community health, includes the Rocky Mountain Regional Trauma Center, Denver’s 911 emergency medical response system, Denver Health Paramedic Division, eight family health centers, 13 school-based health centers, the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, NurseLine, Denver CARES, Denver Public Health, the Denver Health Foundation and the Rocky Mountain Center for Medical Response to Terrorism, Mass Casualties and Epidemics. For more information, please visit www.denverhealth.org.
About Healthcare Performance Partners
Healthcare Performance Partners, a MedAssets Company, based in Gallatin, Tenn., helps the healthcare workforce see its work with new eyes. Its organizational and process improvement solutions combine Lean Healthcare and other effective methods for managing change in order to help generate significant sustainable improvements in patient safety and quality outcomes including readmission reduction, patient and staff satisfaction, and financial savings. For more information, please visit www.hpp.bz.
MDAS/B
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