Process improvement in a radiology department

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to improve the mammography and ultrasound screening processes to increase the healthcare system quality and patients’ pleasantness while decreasing costs. Design/methodology/approach: The data storage system is very insufficient so that data are collected from hospital staff and by personal observations. A lean management tool, value stream mapping is used to see the general view of the radiology department with its problems at a glance. Data and the map are used as a guide to conduct a quality house to make a prioritization between the problems, to decide which one to solve first, of patients at the hospital. Findings: Problems of the radiology department related to mammography and ultrasound and suggestions to these problems according to the quality house conducted. Originality/value: The paper consequently focuses on the value creation process and on how to revisit managing for quality in the systems perspective.