Taking Action eNewsletter

Lean Six Sigma Professional Services Application - Success Story

February 2010

The opportunities to drive out costs in professional services firms through application of Lean Six Sigma improvement methodologies are endless. Repetitive processes like new client intake, chart handling, scheduling, timekeeping, billing, tax return preparation, legal case handling, document review, filing, account review, etc. are all potential sources of unbilled time, errors, rework, delays, waste, missed opportunities, customer dissatisfaction, and more.

The following client success story is a good example of how to use Lean Six Sigma to drive out significant costs in a very short period of time.

Situation: A large, decentralized healthcare staffing company deployed support and administrative functions via a centralized shared services department. The caregiver payment disbursement process had become problematic and costly. The disbursement staff was working excessive overtime (50 hours per week), dissatisfied caregiver phone inquiries related to check disbursement timeliness was increasing (800 calls per week), staff morale was low, and dissatisfied caregivers were leaving and taking their patients with them. The Doug Williams Group was retained to deploy the Lean Six Sigma methodology to achieve the following objectives:

• Improve the efficiency of the disbursement process.
• Improve the productivity of the disbursement staff.
• Eliminate disbursement staff overtime.
• Eliminate the need for a "disbursement call center" to handle caregiver complaints.

Services Provided: The Doug Williams Group provided the following services during the term of this engagement:

• Conducted process mapping to discover fail points within and external to the disbursements process.
• Established a data collection system to capture relevant data for analysis such as timesheet errors and check disbursement failures.
• Facilitated and participated in management and staff improvement working sessions to develop prioritized improvement actions such as:
  • Increased allocation of existing staff during peak activity periods.
  • Modified process for check verification to reduce check disbursement cycle time.
  • Identification of root causes of defects external to the disbursement process such as inconsistency in caregiver education regarding timesheet quality requirements.

Impact: Within 6 weeks of the initiation of this engagement, the client began to realize improved staff productivity, reduced costs, improved morale, and increased caregiver satisfaction. A few specific examples include the following:

• Dissatisfied caregiver call volume was reduced from 800 calls per week to less than 200 calls per week.
• Timesheet error rate was reduced from 11% per week to 5% per week.
• Check disbursement failure rate was reduced from 60 per week to 5 per week.
• Disbursement staff overtime was eliminated, an annual savings of $52,000.
• The disbursement call center was eliminated, an annual savings of $150,000.
• The cycle time for check disbursement was reduced by 1.5 days, increasing caregiver satisfaction. For the first time ever, caregivers are calling to thank the disbursement staff for getting them their checks on time.

Return on Investment: The positive impact of significantly increased caregiver satisfaction is unknown and unknowable. However, if only the hard cost savings are considered, this project was a 20 times return on the client's investment. In other words, for every dollar they invested they got 20 dollars back. For more information about Lean Six Sigma and the impact it can have on your company, contact Mr. Chris Voehl, Vice President of Improvement Technology at 305-598-9880 or via email: chris@thedougwilliamsgroup.com.

Warm personal regards,

Doug Williams
Chief Executive Officer
The Doug Williams Group, Inc.