NNPHI Kaizen Program: Increasing Purchasing Process Efficiencies

Summary

Impact Statement: 
DOH-Seminole County realized savings of $7764 for goods and services from price negotiations during the first quarter following a Kaizen event – almost double the goal set by the QI team. Other improvements in the requisition process included a 38% decrease in process time, in addition to increases in the approval rate for submitted requisitions and the rate of correctly completed forms. The overall result is a much more efficient process that procures goods and services at significantly reduced costs.
Summary: 

The Florida Department of Health in Seminole County (DOH-Seminole) participated in a week-long intensive Kaizen event that involved a systematic analysis of the requisition process to help identify waste and redundancies within the established model. The goal statement was "To reduce the transactional costs of goods and services procured through the MyFloridaMarketPlace (MFMP) system." Transactional cost was defined as actual employee time spent working on a requisition and the overall cost of items procured for the agency. The team consisted of the entire business office, as well as representatives from administration and operations, and program representatives responsible for purchasing goods and services. Measures of success included reducing employee time spent processing a requisition, decreasing the number of requisition denials by both the state and local purchasing offices due to missing or incorrect information, and decreasing actual item cost. Through various improvement tools, including a prioritization matrix and root cause analysis, key solutions were discovered to help increase efficiencies and generate a new process map. Structure was given to the workflow, with specific methods required to initiate a request for goods and services. Limitations were placed on who could request items for their department, a detailed purchasing request form with clear instructions was generated, and a required price negotiation practice was put into place for items over a certain dollar threshold. Participants tested process improvement changes to ensure that anticipated outcomes were reached. Quantitative goals were established for the four identified measures and reviewed quarterly. Currently, all measures have been surpassed.

Organization that conducted the QI initiative: 
DOH-Seminole
Citation: 

Mehta, U. Public Health Quality Improvement Exchange. NNPHI Kaizen Program: Increasing Purchasing Process Efficiencies. Fri, 09/15/2017 - 11:26. Available at http://www.phqix.org/content/nnphi-kaizen-program-increasing-purchasing-process-efficiencies. Accessed March 28, 2024.

Submission Status: 
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SaraWarren's picture
Submitted by SaraWarren on

Revisions created by Diana Rice based on reviewer's remarks

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Sara Warren

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Submitted by SaraWarren on

Revised by Sara Warren

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