Nagoya hospital taps Toyota's famed workflow to reduce staff errors

NAGOYA – Toyota Motor Corp.'s famed quality control is being adopted by companies outside the auto sector and is now spreading into medical care. Nagoya University Hospital in Aichi Prefecture, where Toyota is headquartered, has started a program in collaboration with the Toyota group that aims to improve workflow and to reduce the number of mistakes by pharmacists. Called ASUISHI and subsidized by the government, the program is targeted at doctors across the nation and aimed at boosting safety and quality in medical care and treatment. Toyota's quality control methods include thorough reviews of its production systems and work environment in the event of mistakes to identify the root cause. Corrective measures are then added to standard procedures to avoid recurrences.