Practice and Experience of Re-engineering of Discharge Drug Delivery Process Based on Lean Management Theory

OBJECTIVE To re-engineer the discharge drug delivery process by the use of the theory of lean management(LM). METHODS Two LM tools like Value Stream Mapping(VSM) and Seven Wastes(SW) were used to analyze the original process of discharge medication. Through multi-sectoral collaboration, the process could be reconstituted. RESULTS This implementation of new process could simplify the steps of discharge medication, reduced the chance of mistakes, ensured patients' medication safety, lightened the intensity of medical personnel work, cut down the costs of human resources, shortened the patients' discharge time, improved patients' and medical staffs' satisfaction and made patients being served by the clinical pharmacists' professional medication guidance. CONCLUSION The novel process of discharge medication provides high quality, convenient and quick service which ensures patients' safety medication.