In July 2010, Dr. Richard “Dick” Mitchell joined Georgia Tech’s Health@EI2. He will be tasked with interacting with senior hospital staff and medical doctors to educate them on the benefits of utilizing lean techniques for their process improvement efforts. Dick will also lead project teams and facilitate kaizen events.

Prior to his appointment with Georgia Tech, Dick served as associate medical director at Piedmont Healthcare, where he was responsible for Piedmont Fayette and Piedmont Mountainside Hospitals. From September 2005 until June 2008, he served as vice president for medical affairs, chief medical officer and chief quality officer for Piedmont Fayette Hospital, and then as a lean facilitator for Piedmont Fayette.

Dick was named Physician of the Year at Piedmont Hospital in 2004 for clinical excellence.  He has served as chief of obstetric services at Piedmont Hospital and was actively involved in the hospital’s electronic medical records initiative.  He is a member of the Medical Association of Georgia, American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Georgia Obstetrical & Gynecological Association and Medical Association of Atlanta.  Dick is board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology and previously was in private practice in obstetrics/gynecology in Atlanta.

He received a BS and MS in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Institute of Technology and his medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans. He completed his residency and internship at Emory University in Atlanta.

Kelley Hundt is a manufacturing systems project manager at Georgia Tech’s Health@EI2, a position in which she assists customers with information on available enterprise resources planning software, including the selection and implementation of such software systems. She also develops educational workshops in the areas of supply-chain planning and business planning, execution, and control systems.

Hundt holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech and an M.B.A. from the University of Memphis.

Jennifer Trapp-Lingenfelter is a project leader with Georgia Tech’s Health@EI2. She works with healthcare providers to train employees and guide management through the implementation of state-of-the-art management techniques. She also coaches companies on improving their competitiveness through the implementation of lean principles.

Prior to joining Georgia Tech, Jennifer worked as a project manager for GROWTH Consulting and as a continuous improvement coordinator for Standard Products Company. She has been a practitioner of lean principles in industries ranging from tier-one automotive suppliers to healthcare providers. She holds a B.S. in international business and French from Adrian College in Adrian, Mich., and has studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France.

Jerry Berlanga is a Senior Lean Six Sigma Coach. He is leading Altarum’s Lean Healthcare efforts regionally, focusing on projects, training and mentoring facilitators towards self-sufficiency. Jerry is also researching many relevant healthcare innovations in new areas such as layout/design, operating room (OR) utilization, and Long Term Care homes with their support processes.

Jerry is leading Altarum’s major Lean effort at the Scott & White Healthcare system in Texas. Multiple projects are underway. This effort has garnered attention at the national level. Scott & White was recognized in early 2010 in Washington, DC, as having one of the lowest cost health systems in America. Chief Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Robert Pryor, credits Lean processes and Altarum’s assistance as keys to their success.

Jerry led, coached, and supported Alpena General Hospital (Alpena, Michigan) through their Discharge Value Stream Mapping and Implementation as well as Cummer Lodge (Long Term Care Home, Ontario Health Quality Council, Toronto, Canada) with their RAI/MDS process (Resident Assessment Instrument/Multiple Data Set). Additionally, Jerry co-facilitated a 4-day Lean training at Alpena General Hospital with Alpena project teams and leaders. Jerry has facilitated half-day Lean training events with University Health System (UHS) in San Antonio, Texas, as well as an operating room (OR) Quick Changeover Kaizen Event with St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, Illinois, reducing OR changeover times from 52 minutes on average to under 22 minutes, resulting in capacity to add one OR patient per day.

Jerry understands the challenges of sustaining improvement and is currently supporting University Health System (UHS) San Antonio, TX, Cummer Lodge (Ontario Health Quality Council in Toronto, Canada) Alpena General Hospital, Alpena, Michigan, through development of their results/metrics management boards as well as 30-/60-/90-day follow-up audits to make change stick.

Jerry was the chief Lean leader at LifeMasters, where he helped dissect the enterprise, and then facilitate End-to-End Process Value Stream Maps with great results. Jerry lead the Value Stream Mapping of LifeMasters end-to-end enrollment and disease management delivery process, which enabled (for the first time) the organization to understand how all the end-to-end tasks flowed together, where value was added, and where non-value added tasks were preventing progress. LifeMasters was able to launch strategic initiatives as a result of this Value Stream Mapping that resulted in 20% improvement in enrollment rates as well as a 25% reduction in disease management mediation call times (standard work) resulting in a 15 full-time equivalent lift in capacity.

Jerry coached a team of internal LifeMasters Lean consultants as well as clinical and support teams through Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen improvement events, and organizational change and sustainment. As a certified change management professional, Jerry coached the LifeMasters executive team as well as clinical and support staff on the front lines through change assessment, planning, and management. Two successful examples where Jerry led his team to results and lifted capacity in overarching improvement projects for healthcare professionals were the Virtual Workforce and Predictive Dialing System projects. Jerry developed Lean training materials for LifeMasters and coached his team of internal Lean Consultants to lead and train LifeMasters improvement teams.

Jerry also led United Services Automobile Association (USAA)’s improvement efforts as their Business Architect, managing lifecycle enterprise business process improvements from vision definition through implementation and control. Specific projects included their Enterprise Change Management Implementation and several kaizen “go fast” projects. Using Lean principles, Jerry tailored the Lean kaizen method to fit USAA’s culture. Jerry led the Lean curriculum effort at USAA and developed various Lean guides and fact sheets for the organization.

Jerry also has over 15 years of successful manufacturing improvement experience in multiple industries including energy, consumer goods, bowling balls, and food. Jerry was also an officer in the US Navy. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s in Systems Management from Texas Technical University.