A team at a hospital studied the process of performing a diagnostic CT scan. The current process can be described as follows. The CT tech enters a “send for patient” request into a computer when the CT is available for the next patient. The computer prints a request for transport and an orderly is assigned to take the patient for the scan. The orderly walks to radiology and gets the ticket and patient information. The orderly takes the elevator to the patient’s unit and goes to the nurse’s station, locates the nurse in charge and obtains the patient’s chart. He or she signs out the patient and walks to the patient’s room and waits for a nurse to help transfer the patient. The patient is transferred to a mobile bed and then taken to the elevator and brought to radiology. The chart is given to the CT technician while the patient waits in the hall. When the CT is ready, the patient is moved to the CT machine and the scan is performed. The orderly is called back to take the patient back to his or her room.
A. Draw a flowchart of this process,
B. Identify the value-added and non-value added activities,
C. Describe how lean thinking can be applied to shorten the throughput time to perform the CT scan.