LMU's Lean Engineering Program Is Changing the Face of Health Care

LOS ANGELES, April 10, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- What if America's health care system could be run more efficiently with less waste and duplication of effort? Faculty members at Loyola Marymount University's Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering posed that question and answered it with the creation of an innovative new program, the Graduate Certificate in Lean Healthcare Systems.

"Lean is the main tool for improving health care in the United States," said Bohdan W. Oppenheim, the systems engineering professor who created the program. Originally developed as an operational model in the Japanese auto industry, the concept of lean "simply means identifying and removing waste from operations, while at the same time promoting value to the customer," explained Oppenheim, who has co-authored three books on the subject.

For the past year, groups of directors and managers from Kaiser Permanente Southern California have participated in the three-course graduate certificate program. One group identified 139 best practices that would streamline operations in clinical laboratories that serve more than 200 of Kaiser Permanente's medical facilities in this region at a potential savings of $15 million.

Administrators at Kaiser Permanente Southern California's regional state of the art laboratory say the program helps them to better serve its more than 3.8 million members. Kaiser Permanente's regional laboratory performed 59.1 million tests for Southern California members in 2014 serving 14 hospitals, medical offices and other outpatient facilities.

"By streamlining operations we are putting patients first to better serve and meet their future needs. Kaiser Permanente's focus on its patients is very much aligned with lean principles and the work with LMU should allow us to improve efficiency and effectiveness to our care delivery system," said Michael Kanter, M.D., regional medical director of quality and clinical analysis, Southern California Permanente Medical Group. "The collaboration between LMU and Kaiser Permanente allows both organizations to learn from each other's expertise."

Oppenheim says lean methodology will work for all health care providers: hospitals, clinics, emergency departments and operating rooms, laboratories, pharmacies, supply chain and administration. 

About Loyola Marymount University
Located between the Pacific Ocean and downtown Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University is a comprehensive university offering 60 major programs, 39 master's degrees and doctoral degrees in education and law from four colleges, two schools and Loyola Law School. Founded in 1911, LMU is ranked third in "Best Regional Universities/West" by U.S. News & World Report. LMU is the largest Jesuit Catholic university for undergraduates on the West Coast with more than 6,000 undergraduate students and more than 3,000 graduate and law students. For more LMU news and events, please visit www.lmu.edu/news.

About Kaiser Permanente Southern California
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high quality, affordable health care services to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 3.8 million members in Southern California. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information follow us on twitter; @KPSCALNews or go to: www.kp.org/share.

Need an expert for your story? Visit www.lmu.edu/experts to find the right faculty or staff member. For more LMU news and events, go to www.lmu.edu/news.

SOURCE Loyola Marymount University