Application of Lean Methodology in Radiology Department of a Multispecialty Hospital.
Authors: Susmit Jain  , Mahima Jha  
Published: October 2022

Hospital Administrators are continually looking for ways to reduce the cost and expenditure related to healthcare services.The radiology department is one of the key areas for reducing the expenditures of the hospital. The radiology departmentis an important revenue-generating department, but it also houses one of the costliest technologies to maintain and repair.The study was carried out in a Multispecialty Hospital in India. The objective of the study was to reduce identify wastesor “muda” as in lean methodology of Toyota Production System and to study the cost of materials consumed in theradiology department without compromising the quality of services. The study design was descriptive & cross-sectional,and data of cost analysis was obtained from the Hospital Information System. The period of the study was over a threemonthperiod between March - June 2021. Data of Radiology Information System (R.I.S) (medical imaging software) wasalso used. The cost related to radiology was determined for the consumables. The sampling technique was purposive.Data was analysed using Minitab and MS Excel. Value Stream Map was created, and 8 types of wastes (lean tool) wereidentified in the study. The wastes or “muda” occurred during transportation which occurred during shifting of patientsand material transportation, inventory, motion, too many clicks for uploading images, waiting for procedures, waitingfor reports, re-do and unnecessary tests, excess radiation doses, reporting errors, and insufficient training to staff. In theMRI procedure, Value Stream Map was made, the takt time of 24 min, but the cycle time was 100 min and waiting of 120minutes, which resulted in the lead time of 220 minutes. Pareto analysis of the consumables was done for 28 products,the products were classified under ABC categories. Radiographic Film-14 x 17 inch & Contrast Omnipaque consumed73.3 % of the consumption value, they were classified under A category products, 3 products viz Contrast Omniscan,Radiographic Film-11x14inch, Radiographic Film-8 X10inch were categorized under B category which consumedadditional 21.05 % of the expenditure, the remaining 20 products were classified under C category, which consumed only5.68 % of the monetary consumption value.Category A materials are the most expensive and hence require strict control. From the data analysis, it was observed thatstringent control on consumption, monthly consumption analysis, and commitment of the staff members could be thecontributory factors for the reduction in expenditure. The maximum scope for cost reduction in the radiology departmentwas in the MRI Studies.Some of the strategies for cost reduction could be digitalization of services, use of IT in MRI studies CDs could be provided,linking the RIS with mobile application. The reports could be made assessable online which would reduce paper records.is another money-saving tactic. The purchase department must be informed of the consumption pattern on a weekly ormonthly basis, particularly for costly products like contrast (Omnipaque and Omniscan).