Edward D. Arnheiter, PhD Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario Kaiser Permanente, based in California, was a vertically integrated health care system comprised of 38 hospitals, 619...

Edward D. Arnheiter, PhD

Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario

Kaiser Permanente, based in California, was a vertically integrated health care system comprised of 38 hospitals, 619 medical offices, and 10.1 million members in eight western U.S. states. In 2007, the emergency department at South Sacramento was experiencing long patient wait times; it became clear that a better way was needed. Changes were made from 2007 until 2015 by Dr. Karen Murrell, leader of the LEAN program, and her flow group, to significantly improve many key performance measures of the emergency department. In 2016, she was wondering whether there were any additional ways to create capacity in the ED.