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The push for health care reform, recent rulings by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) and current economic conditions are forcing hospitals and healthcare providers to change in order to survive.

Many feel compelled to cut valuable staff and services. This is evidenced by the recent AHA Report on the Economic Crisis: Initial Impact on Hospitals. To meet the criteria for President Obama's proposed health care reform, each of the nation's 5,700 hospitals must cut on average $2.6 million a year in costs within the next 10 years. USAToday reported some hospital CEOs agree that their hospitals can be run more efficiently and believe that the $155 billion saved due to cut costs is a reachable goal with the help of business disciplines, such as Toyota Production System, lean manufacturing and Six Sigma. In the first study to investigate the implementation of lean, the American Society for Quality surveyed 77 hospitals, half report some level of lean and/or Six Sigma deployment. 

EXPERTS: ExpertSource can offer several highly qualified experts to comment on this story:
Mike Reno

FACHE, CHSP, Vice President of Operations, Bryn Mawr Hospital Main Line Health System, Bryn Mawr, PA. As vice president of operations for Main Line Health System's Bryn Mawr Hospital, Mike Reno oversees not only the main hospital facility administrative needs, but operations as well. The latter includes everything from facility master planning, architecture and construction services to property management, pharmacy, laboratory, endoscopy, case management, the neuro-interventional program, the hospitalist group and more. Mike serves as the health system’s Emergency Management and Hazard Mitigation director and Safety Officer. He also finds time to co-chair the Patient Safety and Quality Committee, which ensures compliance with other regulatory agencies such as TJC, PDOH, OSHA, etc. and is the chair of the health system Environment of Care committee. Prior to joining Bryn Mawr, Reno was vice president at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, where he had executive oversight and service line responsibility for the cardiology, cardiovascular and neuroscience services, and was administratively responsible for diagnostic and therapeutic imaging, radiology and nuclear medicine. He oversaw the physical medicine and rehabilitation services, serving as the administrator for the 24-bed Rehab hospital within a hospital. Mike also oversaw the hospital's support service operations, including facility master planning, architecture and construction, clinical technology, parking and transportation, food and nutrition, safety and security, environmental services, mail and messenger services, facilities engineering and building and grounds operations. Additionally, Mike co-chaired the Patient Safety and Quality Committee, tasked with ensuring compliance with various regulatory agencies, including the Joint Commission Environment of Care Standards, served as the hospital's Emergency Management Coordinator and was the project executive for the Patient Care Center capital building project and the executive sponsor for the implementation of LEAN, the Toyota Production System, as the hospital's standard operating procedure. 

President/CEO, HealthSHARE, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Texas Hospital Association (THA), Austin, TX

Jim Dixon is president and chief executive officer of HealthSHARE, the marketing division of the Texas Hospital Association (THA). HealthSHARE,a wholly owned subsidiary of THA that provides products and services to Texas hospitals and health systems through its endorsement of companies. Revenue share earned from these relationships helps offset THA expenses in order to keep dues lower for the THA membership. Dixon came to HealthSHARE from Louisiana, where he served as the Gulf Coast director for Amerinet and as the liaison for SupportHealth, a five-state hospital association joint venture including the state hospital associations of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. He has also served as the president and chief executive officer ShareCOR, the marketing division of the Louisiana Hospital Association (LHA) and as the vice president of operations for the LHA. Jim has an extensive background in health care operations, group purchasing and management engineering. He is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology and holds a master’s degree in business from Louisiana State University. 

Director & Principal Consultant of Healthcare Performance Solutions Healthcare Consulting and Training Practice for RWD Technologies, LLC,Troy, MI

As director of RWD’s Performance Solutions Practice, Mike Brown brings 20 years of experience in the adoption, training and implementation of the Toyota Management System (TPS. He helps clients in strategic planning and design of hospital operating systems to provide excellence in patient care. In addition, Brown provides executive coaching and mentoring in implementing Toyota Management principles. His deep understanding of the Toyota Production System, and the many phases necessary for sustainable implementation of Lean, was built through his experience as a member of the founding team at Toyota Motor Manufacture Kentucky. He has undergone extensive training in TPS philosophies at TMMK in Georgetown, as well as Kamigo and Tahara Toyota facilities in Japan. His involvement from new product and facilities launch to staff and leadership recruiting, training and development has allowed him to see the direct application in health care, enterprise support, industrial and service industries. He is a long-standing member of the AHA. With over 100 successful implementations to date, Brown and the RWD healthcare team have consistently generated systemic and sustained quality improvement programs at all levels of their clients’ healthcare organizations, including: St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston; MainLine Health in Pennsylvania; Charleston Area Medical Center in West Virginia and University of Minnesota Medical Center. These dramatic transformations have enabled these healthcare administrators to engage and empower their physicians and staff with viable, affordable solutions that dramatically minimize errors and waste, while optimizing performance, patient outcomes and profitability.

Source: Business Wire

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