A Lean Six Sigma Quality Improvement Project Improves Timeliness of Discharge from the Hospital.

Background: Hospital overcrowding has become a widespread problem, with constrained bed capacity and admission bottlenecks having far-reaching negative impacts on quality and safety. Focus on timing of discharge may be the least disruptive and most effective way to address constrained bed capacity, yet there may be significant institution-specific barriers to implementation.

Methods: With the creation of a "Value Team," a 627-bed, tertiary care academic medical center embarked on a quality improvement (QI) project using Lean Six Sigma process improvement methodology.