Greater Baltimore Medical Center - Orthopaedic Specialists of Maryland

Due to an increase in patient volumes, Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) made the decision to expand their existing Orthopedics practice to better serve their patients.  Greater Baltimore Medical Center is a Lean organization that understands customer value and works to continuously improve their processes to increase customer value in every aspect of their business.  So, naturally, as GBMC embarked on a project to expand their orthopaedics practice, they took a Lean approach. Knowing that relocating their practice would afford them the opportunity to rethink their processes, stakeholders from all touchpoints of the patient experience as well as GBMC administration and support services held a week long Lean 3P event to map out their ideal future state. The result was that, at the conclusion of the week-long event, they had a reimagined care model and a schematic design for their new suite.  Some aspects of their new care model were implemented immediately while they were still in their existing space.

The new patient-centered care model included an on-stage/off-stage work flow, providing a more calming, patient centric environment.  A greeter meets patients at the front door and either walks them to their room or directs them to self-room. The entire check-in and intake process now occurs in the patient exam room (referred to as “wellness rooms” in the new care model).  All wellness rooms were designed to accommodate the varied modalities within the orthopedics practice.  To support their large x-ray volumes, the practice has two radiographic rooms, but with a shared control room to allow for the tech(s) to flex back and forth between the rooms for better throughput.  During clinic hours, the physicians work off-stage at flow stations alongside their scribes and medical assistants to allow for more timely and effective communication.  This minimizes downtime between patient interactions and allows for quicker response times to post exam orders.  In lieu of private offices for physicians, a central shared office with respite and huddle space has been provided.