Applying Lean Principles and Kaizen Rapid Improvement Events in Public Health Practice

In Brief This case study describes a local home health and hospice agency's effort to implement Lean principles and Kaizen methodology as a rapid improvement approach to quality improvement. The agency created a cross-functional team, followed Lean Kaizen methodology, and made significant improvements in scheduling time for home health nurses that resulted in reduced operational costs, improved working conditions, and multiple organizational efficiencies. This study describes a local home health and hospice agency's effort, which resulted in reduced operational costs, improved working conditions, and multiple organizational efficiencies.