In this one-hour presentation, you will learn

  • Effective performance measurements 
  • The vital role of bottlenecks in healthcare
  • The five focusing steps of the Theory of Constraints and how to apply them to improve patient flow in hospitals
  • A case study of an emergency department
  • Beyond bottlenecks...learning about constraints
  • What is Drum Buffer Rope (DBR)?
  • The pitfall of "pull-till-full" in Emergency Departments
  • DBR in the Emergency Departments

About the presenter

Dr. Strear earned a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently the Director of Patient Flow for Northwest Acute Care Specialists and is an attending physician in emergency medicine at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. Additionally, he is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland, Oregon. He is a member of the board of directors and the president-elect of the Oregon chapter of ACEP, and he serves on the ACEP National Reimbursement Committee.  He began his career in Operational Flow and Process Improvement as the Director of Patient Flow at Legacy Emanuel Health Center in 2008. His Emergency Department implementation resulted in a dramatic reduction of length of stay and in savings of $3 million dollars to the hospital in year one. His flow team was twice awarded the John G. King Quality Award for accomplishments in clinical quality and process improvement. He is currently patient flow advisor and internal consultant to multiple hospital flow steering committees in the Pacific Northwest.  He is co-author of the book: Smash the Bottleneck: Fixing Patient Flor for Better Care.

Sponsored by

Smash the Bottleneck: Fixing Patient Flow for Better Care (and a Better Bottom Line) lays out a concrete methodology for getting to the root of patient-flow problems and addressing them—quickly. The book highlights a continuous improvement methodology known as the Theory of Constraints (TOC), which emphasizes identifying, optimizing, and breaking down bottlenecks to improve overall system performance.

For more information, visit www.smashthebottleneck.com

This presentation was originally presented at the TOCICO International Virtual Conference in 2020. Visit TOCICO at www.tocico.org