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Lean Continuing Education Activities Win Awards

UT Graduate School of Medicine Office of Continuing Education and Professional Development (CEPD) staff received two awards at the 39th Annual Conference of Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professionals (ACEHP) in Orlando, Florida, in January 2014 for two CME-certified activities implementing Lean for Healthcare tools. The award-winning activities were planned and implemented by UT College of Business Administration, Center for Executive Education. Also at the conference, Laura Maples, CEPD Director, presented research findings on use of focus groups during a CME activity.

The 2014 Outstanding Live CE Activity Award was received for a custom educational activity designed for the Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital (SVMH) to streamline the admission process. The activity combined with team coaching enabled SVMH to streamline admission procedures, reduce 17.4 staff hours per week, and eliminate 80 team phone calls per day.

The Outstanding CE Outcomes Assessment Award was presented for an activity that improved outcomes at The United States Air Force 325th Medical Group at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida. After the implementation of the customized Lean for Healthcare process, check-in to check-out times per patient shrank nearly 43 percent, and referrals to specialists were processed within 24 hours with 75 percent fewer errors.

As part of a panel discussion at the ACEHP conference on outcomes measurement, Maples discussed the results of a research project conducted with the Office of Medical Education, Research, and Development in which two focus group sessions were conducted during the Ninth Annual Diabetes Regional Conference, March 16, 2013. Participants included a diverse group of 20 physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and dietitians. Feedback from the participants showed the focus groups provided a positive small group setting for multidisciplinary professionals to discuss potential barriers to treatment for diabetic patients.

Posted February 25, 2014