Lean thinking to improve emergency department throughput at AORN Cardarelli hospital.

Background: Throughout the world, emergency departments (ED) are characterized by overcrowding and excessive waiting times. Furthermore, the related delays significantly increase patient mortality and make inefficient use of resources to the detriment of the satisfaction of employees and patients. In this work, lean thinking is applied to the ED of Cardarelli Hospital of Naples with the aim of increasing patient flow, improving the processes that contribute to facilitating the flow of patients through the various stages of medical treatment and eliminating all bottlenecks (queue) as well as all activities that generate waste.

The application of Lean Six Sigma methodology to reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections in surgery departments.

Rationale: Nowadays, the monitoring and prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) is a priority for the healthcare sector.

Aims And Objectives: In this article, we report on the application of the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodology to reduce the number of patients affected by sentinel bacterial infections who are at risk of HAI.

Methods: The LSS methodology was applied in the general surgery department by using a multidisciplinary team of both physicians and academics.