Congratulations to the Health Information Management (HIM) Improvement Project for their continued efforts and dedication to improve our HIM records management and coding operational processes. As the project nears completion, we wish to acknowledge how far the team has come and the results that can be achieved by using lean tools and methodology!

What is the HIM Improvement Project?

Lower Mainland Consolidated (LMC) HIM is responsible for processing approximately 2.8 million patient health records per year and converting chart documentation into coded data which is submitted to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). The coded data is used for a variety of purposes including research, funding and planning (i.e. resources and programs).

The HIM Improvement Project was launched in January 2011 to review and redesign HIM operating processes and maximize workflow efficiencies with increasing demand. During the course of the project, HIM staff at Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) consolidated with the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) and Fraser Health Authority (FHA) HIM organizations, becoming one of a few very large regional departments under Lower Mainland Consolidation (LMC). Despite the complexity of LMC, new leaner processes were successfully implemented which enabled the regional HIM teams to recover capacity to meet the ever constant demand of processing patient records.

Educating Lean champions

Lean Management philosophy includes establishing effective sustainment plans by educating teams to sustain the revised processes and monitor their own operational performance. The Lean Transformation Services (LTS) team recently educated the HIM leadership in Lean Management methodology to sustain the new processes and continue to use lean tools and methodology to make further improvements. LTS also educated eight members of the HIM team to earn their Lean Healthcare Green Belts. These are HIM’s new Lean Champions.

Congratulations to our internal champions (pictured above) and to the entire project team for successfully implementing the new HIM operating processes and showing us the impact lean can have!

If you have any questions about the HIM Improvement Project, please contact Joanna Muir, Lean Regional LTS Advisor.