• Reduced illegibility and incompleteness by 77% in just 60 days 
• Eliminated the need to purchase $401,000 in purchases in the first year, a savings of 20% 

This 155-bed Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTAC) in Pittsburgh, PA had a goal of eliminating all harm. To this end, Value Capture helped the hospital redesign their medication-use pathway to create a direct connection between customers and suppliers (including MDs).

This simple change, based on a core principle of the Toyota Production System, reduced illegibility and incompleteness by 77% in just 60 days — without Computerized Physician Order Entry. Value Capture then helped LifeCare create stability for all elements of the medication-use pathway and streamlined purchasing, eliminating virtually all stock-outs, while freeing up two days per week of a technician’s time to do value-added instead of non-value added work.

The bottom line savings were achieved in the medication inventory, where a simple Toyota-based signaling system eliminated the need to purchase $401,000 in purchases in the first year, for a savings of 20%. The hospital also achieved an ongoing minimum yearly value of $119,000 in eliminated, unnecessary purchases, which totaled 6% of their budget. LifeCare also solved dozens of previously recurring problems by discovering their root causes, further stabilizing their care processes and reducing waste.