Glossary
- Cycle Time The total amount of time required in order to complete one cycle of a job process, including delays and waiting.
- Effectiveness The degree to which an objective is achieved. Treating patients more correctly regarding their condition would be an improvement in effectiveness.
- Efficiency The degree to which a minimum amount of resources is used to produce a particular output. Seeing more patients in a day with the same staff would be an improvement in efficiency.
- Huddle Gathering of individuals working in an area, such as surgery or a department, to assure that everyone understands immediate plans, issues and the current situation. Huddles occur frequently, perhaps daily, or before an event such as a surgery.
- Lean Performance improvement based on ideas developed by Toyota and earlier industrial improvement innovators. Particular emphasis is placed on reducing waste and a focus on customer (patient) value. It shares many concepts with the Six Sigma method. Sometimes Lean is called the Toyota method or Toyota Production System.
- Method A systematic series of steps to accomplish something. In this handbook synonymous with a "tool."
- Productivity Economists define productivity as a ratio: output divided by resources used to produce the output. In the case of healthcare productivity is often measured by patients seen or bed-days divided by labor hours. Productivity in research is more difficult to define since the output is less easily quantified.
- Six Sigma Performance improvement based on ideas developed at Motorola and earlier industrial improvement methods. Particular emphasis is placed on reducing errors and variation. Statistical tools are employed. It shares many tools with the Lean method. Due to this overlap the term Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is sometimes used.
- System Interconnected components in a group with an overall purpose.