ACLP Bulletin

Spring 2018 | VOL. 36 NO. 2

CHILD LIFE FOCUS:

28 Season of Giving: Applying LEAN Concepts to Improve the Process of Holiday Gift Donations

Michael Campbell, Ph.D, LCSW
Saint Leo University, Saint Leo, FL

Samantha Garrett Klaff, MS, CCLS
Nemours Children's Hospital, Orlando, FL

ABSTRACT
Holiday donations, though well intended, cause significant “downstream” consequences for pediatric hospitals in reacting to this generosity. This article explores the development of an “Elf Workshop,” one children’s hospital’s effort to embrace the opportunity of charitable gift giving, as a system which applies LEAN tools, such as the 5S process, to explore an ongoing process improvement strategy that is widely employed across the healthcare marketplace. LEAN‚process improvements are centered around the core idea that process change should be patient/customer focused (as opposed to system/clinician focused) with an aim towards creating more value for customers in the most efficient way possible. These efficiencies hold the lofty goal of driving out all waste in a process until there is zero waste in the process and the most value to the customer. In this article, the Elf Workshop process is described, LEAN concepts are summarized, and direct application of these concepts to the holiday donations are offered to streamline processes. The data collected at one hospital over five years clearly demonstrates that a well-organized system can yield tremendous benefits both direct (return on investment [ROI] estimate of $346,322.40) and indirect (increased network of skilled volunteers and philanthropic giving). This paper also identifies steps taken to create process efficiencies aimed to increase the quality and quantity of appropriate donations and decrease the work load on child life specialists, thus increasing their ability to offer quality clinical care to children in need. Active attention will be paid to lessons learned in the administration of this process for others who are interested in taking this journey..