Implementation of a 5’S Pilot Program in the Veteran Administration Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Abstract

In the recent years, the restructuring of health system has taken an approach to quality control in order to reduce cost and provide better services to patient. However it is a process that requires much work and research. The main objective of a quality program should be integration of systems to facilitate the administrator’s work and reduce operational costs. 5’S Pilot Program, or the five pillars of the visual workplace, is a systematic process of workplace organization. This tool helps an organization to identify non value adding activities in a current process and the opportunities for improvement. This Pilot Project was applied to Send Out Room/ Main Laboratory of Veteran’s Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The main aim was to apply 5’S tool to clean and organize the working area to be more efficient to complete daily workload and improve as well as internal customer satisfaction by January 2014. Key Terms - Health Systems, Lean Thinking, Total Quality Management, 5’S Philosophy.