Situation

As part of an organization-wide initiative to reduce operating costs, the hospital’s COO asked a number of employee teams to investigate savings opportunities in supply-cost areas such as rental equipment.

Team Engagement Strategy

A team of employees, comprised of facilities management, finance and patient service department reps, was assembled to investigate opportunities and implement solutions using Rapid Action, an “all in one” team engagement toolkit for accelerating results.

Rapid Action Project Charter

How can we better utilize hospital-owned mobile equipment and better manage the leasing of rental units in order to reduce overall spending on equipment?

Sample of Solutions Implemented

1. Implemented new procedures to remove all mobile equipment from unused patient rooms and ensure availability of units.
2. Labeled all equipment as “owned” (green tag) or “rental” (red tag) and educated hospital staff on benefits of using owned equipment.
3. Established central depot for all unused mobile equipment and new procedures for requesting and returning equipment while maintaining an accurate inventory count at all times.
4. Identified excess and obsolete equipment for termination of lease, disposal or replacement.