Amid the nation's health-care crisis, Cancer Treatment Centers of America® finds its own cure

✍ Scribed by Herb DeBarba; Jennifer Lewis Smith; Michael Myers

• Book ID: 102391569
• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 321 KB
• Volume: 31
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1932-2054
• DOI: 10.1002/joe.21400

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (CTCA®), where the spirit of “the patient comes first” has never been a cliché, was founded on the principle that only a standard of care suitable for one's own mother would suffice. To build on this mission, the organization added Lean Six Sigma—a manufacturing industry‐driven combination of waste reduction and defect‐free process improvement. This approach created a patient‐driven cultural imperative that has changed both the behavioral experience and financial landscape throughout its hospital network for patients and their families, providers, payers, and administrators alike. Today, continuous improvement permeates every corner of the organization and serves as an omnipresent roadmap for never being satisfied with the status quo. The result has been unprecedented patient satisfaction, a top‐down and bottom‐up collaborative spirit among all stakeholders, and a trend of cost savings and revenue generation that has competitors taking note. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.