Improving patient care, cutting hospital costs. A process improvement system.

Today's healthcare managers all find themselves confronted with the dilemma of finding ways to reduce costs while simultaneously improving the quality of patient care. Working with management consultants, cross-functional teams at Good Samaritan Hospital carried out a four-step process to reduce the average length of stay for knee and hip replacement surgery from twelve to seven days. The improvements are saving the hospital an estimated $800,000 a year.