Implementation of TPS (Toyota production System) into VMMC (Virginia Mason Medical Center)
The Toyota production system is also known as lean manufacturing. Toyota has applied such a system to reduce the time of making their products and at the same time ensure safer products (Robeznieks 1). Application of such a system in healthcare in Virginia Mason requires that any issue that an employee comes across that is likely to harm a patient is reported immediately. Consequently, it allows further actions to be taken to stop any additional harm to the patient (Furman and Caplan 1). Subsequently, this represents an approach of trying to achieve zero defects used in the production process. As such, using a patient safety alert system, actions of an employee that may cause harm to a patient can be detected. Further, the employee can be stopped from working until further actions to contain and resolve the situation are done.
What is VMPS (Virginia Mason Production System)?
The VMPS represents a modified version of the Toyota Production System, which has been in use since 2002. It is one of the primary actions used in innovation in healthcare. It involves the application of lean principles to improve the quality of care and provide increased patient safety. It has been instrumental in allowing VM to attain its strategic goals, and it has helped it to attain a zero defect rate in its processes. The main component in VMPS has been the use of value-stream mapping, which has involved the creating of flowcharts for purposes of visual mapping of the materials, information, workflow and other medical center metrics. Major aspect has been the understanding of the problems and the best solutions by the staff. Additionally, small-scale ideas that have been tested and proven efficient have been applied on large-scale processes.
Works Cited
Furman, C., and R. Caplan. "Applying the Toyota Production System: Using a Patient Safety Alert System to Reduce Error." PubMed 33.7 (2007): 376-78. Web. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17711139
Robeznieks, Andis. "Modern Healthcare | The Leader in Healthcare Business News, Research & Data." Modern Healthcare. 11 Jan. 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. <http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20140111/MAGAZINE/301119950>.
"Virginia Mason Hospital & Medical Center." Virginia Mason Production System, VMPS. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. <https://www.virginiamason.org/VMPS>
