Performing lean events in the public sector

Using lean in the public sector can improve efficiency. The current research focused on assisting Louisiana's Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH), Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) with improving their grant decision process. OBH receives many grant notifications throughout the year, but they do not apply because of the lack of resources and time. The employees formed a grant review team, and the researchers guided improvement using Lean techniques. Flowcharts, swimlane diagrams, and value stream maps assisted with visualizing the current processes and areas of improvement. The employees identified different forms of waste, such as rework when proper subject matter experts (SMEs) were not involved in the initial recommendations, forcing management to review their decisions twice. Delays and confusion in communication between the review team and management were also prevalent, which decreased the time available for writing proposals. After adding a SME to the initial review process and standardizing communication protocol, the decision time decreased from a range of approximately 20 to 34 days to 1 to 10 days. Decreased decision time increases the time available to prepare grant proposals, which improves OBH's ability to secure federal funding for behavioral health improvement initiatives in Louisiana.