Naval Hospital (NH) Jacksonville earned a win at Navy Medicine East's third annual Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) virtual fair, on March 22.

The winning team used Lean Six Sigma tools to improve periodic health assessments (PHAs). The PHA team realigned patients based on birth month and launched a walk-in clinic. This strategy reduced patient wait times for completing PHAs, reduced overall wait times up to three weeks, increased access to appointments with the primary care manager (PCM), and increased the number of active duty patients meeting readiness standards by two percent.

"Reducing patient wait times while increasing readiness is a win-win for our Sailors and Marines," said Lt. Cmdr. Jeffrey Miles, NH Jacksonville PHA champion.

Robust process improvement methods (like Lean Six Sigma) provide a systematic approach to solving complex problems, and improve quality and safety.

CPI representatives, from regional commands and NME's Quality Council, viewed 28 project submissions and voted electronically to select this year's winners. The other winners were NH Camp Lejeune and Naval Medical Center Portsmouth.

NH Jacksonville's PHA improvement team members included Lt. Cmdr. Jeffrey Miles (team champion), Lt. Chahn Chess (Lean Six Sigma green belt), Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Maria Babb (PHA Coordinator), Robert Doyle (Lean Six Sigma black belt), and Carl McMichael (Process Improvement Specialist).

NH Jacksonville's priority since its founding in 1941 is to heal the nation's heroes and their families. The command is comprised of the Navy's third largest hospital and five branch health clinics across Florida and Georgia. Of its patient population (163,000 active and retired sailors, soldiers, Marines, airmen, guardsmen, and their families), about 85,000 are enrolled with a primary care manager and Medical Home Port team at one of its facilities. To find out more or download the command's mobile app, visit www.med.navy.mil/sites/navalhospitaljax.



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