Streamlining Lab Processes: The Power of Kaizen

In this month’s episode of “Lab Medicine Rounds,” Justin Kreuter, M.D., interviews Jessica Stellmaker on creating a culture of continuous improvement using Kaizen events.

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
00:40 What is a kaizen event?
04:01 Kaizen week

06:28 Create a culture of continuous improvement 

09:54 Resources
11:31 Fail point

13:15 Impacts on laboratory functions

17:02 Outro

Resources:
Continuous Improvement: Kaizen Events - Insights (mayocliniclabs.com)

For additional learning:

1. Flug J, Stellmaker J, Sharpe R, et al. Kaizen Process Improvement in Radiology: Primer for Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement. RadioGraphics, 42(3), 919-928.
2. Flug J, Stellmaker J, Tollefson C, et al. (2022). Improving Turnaround Time in a Hospital-based CT Division with the Kaizen Method. RadioGraphics, 42(E125-E131).