Situation

The facilities management department supporting an urban healthcare system with four hospital campuses needed to quickly get control of bed maintenance fees paid to external repair providers as part of a system-wide cost reduction initiative.

Team Engagement Strategy

Engage a small team of technicians, facilities managers, nurses and financial reps to examine the end-to-end bed maintenance process and find savings opportunities. Equip the team with Rapid Action, an “all in one” team engagement toolkit for accelerating results.

Rapid Action Project Charter

How can we effectively and economically improve the bed maintenance process in order to reduce the need for external repair, increase utilization of internal repair capabilities, and negotiate more favorable terms and prices with external repair providers?

Sample of Solutions Implemented

1. Completed an audit of all beds to verify counts, properly tag for condition and flag un-repairable beds for disposal.
2. Identified and assessed capabilities of internal staff for completing bed repairs, as well as condition of current repair equipment gaps.
3. Developed a proposal to in-source bed maintenance for certain classes of beds, reducing the reliance on relatively expensive external repair services.
4. Reviewed accuracy of external repair provider contracts and audited invoices against contract terms to identify potential credits.