Utilizing Lean Six Sigma in the Marion County Health Department's STD Program

The Marion County Health Department (MCHD), through its Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Program, was able to implement Lean Six Sigma Methodologies to increase the number of full service patients seen per clinician per hour by 50% and reduce the length of time patients spend from the time of check-in to the end of the office visit by 75%. Utilizing the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) process and utilizing Lean Six Sigma tools such as Value Stream Mapping, Affinity Diagrams and Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Flow, the STD program was able to analyze its clinical operations, identify both value-added and non-value added activities and improve patient cycle time. The STD Program was able to identify the focus areas and develop a sustainable plane through a one-week Kaizen session. The Kaizen allowed us to involve all employees that were critical to the clinical process, from upper management to data entry staff, and develop continuous improvement processes to achieve our clinical goals.