Improving eye care services with a lean approach

Effective provision of eye care services in government-financed hospitals is essential to balance the discrepancy between growing demand and limited resources. We aimed to improve efficiency of the treatment protocol for Nd:YAG laser posterior capsulotomy. Predetermined quality targets were a patient-oriented and patient-safe approach and the development of a clinical care process with purposeful use of competences.

We utilized a lean process improvement methodology to develop a streamlined Nd:YAG laser posterior capsulotomy treatment protocol. A total of 206 patient visits were evaluated, where the lean-oriented treatment protocol was utilized in 158 of the visits and the conventional (CONV) protocol was followed in 48 of the visits.

All baseline variables were comparable between the study groups. Compared to the CONV protocol, implementation of new operational principles shortened the total reception time per patient from 55:36 ± 30:23; 12-136 min to 44:40 ± 4:49; 37-54 min (mean ± SD; range, p = 0.040). The per hour number of patients and eyes treated in the operation room improved from 4.7 ± 1.6; 2.6-8.4 patients and 5.5 ± 2.0; 3.5-11.3 eyes to 16.3 ± 2.3; 14.3-19.4 patients (p < 0.001) and 18.0 ± 1.6; 16.8-20.4 eyes (p < 0.001). The time spent by the operating physician reduced from 8:19 ± 3:06; 3:57-14:30 min to 3:01 ± 1:00; 1:34-6:38 min in unilateral procedure (p < 0.001) and from 8:45 ± 3:55; 5:52-14:10 min to 4:40 ± 2:03; 2:38-10:14 min in bilateral procedure (p < 0.006). Furthermore, the overall patient satisfaction grade improved from 17.3 ± 1.04; 15-18 points to 17.8 ± 0.61; 15-18 points (p = 0.001).

The lean approach improved the treatment protocol for Nd:YAG laser posterior capsulotomy with substantial reductions in lead times without compromising patient satisfaction.