Process Mapping as a Valuable Tool for Practice Efficiency

   
North Kansas City Hospital - Prairie View Conference Room

Wednesday, August 20, 2025    
Time:  Registration 3:00 -networking, food/drink, speaker. End by 5:00pm  

  

Speaker: Jim Spratt, MBA, SSBB

Process Mapping as a Valuable Tool for Practice Efficiency

This presentation introduces essential Lean tools and techniques used to visualize, analyze, and improve business processes. By combining Process Mapping, Value-Added/Non-Value-Added Analysis, Spaghetti Diagrams, and Visual Management, teams gain powerful insights to identify inefficiencies, reduce waste, and support continuous improvement.

Key Focus Areas:

1. Process Mapping

· Visual breakdown of a workflow from start to finish

· Highlights roles, steps, decision points, and handoffs

· Establishes a shared understanding of how work actually flows versus how it should flow

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2. Value-Added vs. Non-Value-Added (VA/NVA) Mapping

· Each step is evaluated to determine if it adds value from the customer's perspective

· Value-Added (VA): Steps that change the product/service in a meaningful way

· Non-Value-Added (NVA): Wasteful activities like delays, rework, unnecessary motion

· Aim: Minimize or eliminate NVA steps to streamline processes and reduce cost

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3. Spaghetti Diagrams

· Maps the physical flow of people, materials, or information through a workspace

· Visually illustrates unnecessary travel, backtracking, or inefficient layouts

· Drives layout redesign or co-location of steps to minimize motion waste

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4. Visual Management

· Use of visual cues (signs, boards, color coding, KPIs, dashboards) to manage operations at-a-glance

· Promotes transparency, real-time decision-making, and accountability

· Examples: production boards, performance metrics, shadow boards, status indicators

· Enables teams to “see problems” quickly and respond proactively

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Bio

Jim Spratt is the Vice President of Project Management for PFSbrands. Jim has over 25 years of experience in process improvement methodologies, project management, supply chain engineering, distribution operations, and material handling design.

Prior to joining PFSbrands, Jim worked at St. Mary’s Health Center as the Director of Continuous Quality Improvement for four years where he focused on the implementation of a Six Sigma program at the facility. He was responsible for the identification and execution of projects as driven by the facilities’ strategic and operational plans, as well as the training and development of Green Belts throughout the hospital system. Jim’s Six Sigma project portfolio include successful projects in the Operating Room suite, Revenue Cycle, Outpatient Sleep Center, Inpatient Nursing efficiencies, and Outpatient off-site Clinics, while also leading several Kaizen and Lean teams resulting in operational improvements in the Emergency Room, Laboratory, and Outpatient Therapy centers.

Jim earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri and his Master in Business Administration from William Woods University. He is a certified healthcare Six Sigma Black Belt (SSBB) and is also a certified SSBB instructor.