Same-Day Breast Biopsies: Improving Diagnosis Time and Patient Experience in Breast Cancer Care

Imagine being diagnosed with possible breast cancer. Each day of waiting can feel like a lifetime. At Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital, we understand the emotional toll such news brings to patients and their loved ones. That is why we created the Fast Track program, an innovative solution to reduce the time from diagnostic mammograms to biopsy. This program helps reduce patient anxiety and improve the quality of care through Lean methodologies, providing same-day or next-day biopsy access. This initiative reduced biopsy turnaround times from 9 to 3 days, improving patient outcomes and operational excellence.

After attending this session, attendees will be able to explain how Lean methodologies, such as Value Stream Mapping and Kaizen events, can optimize the patient journey from diagnostic to biopsy results, with measurable improvements in efficiency and quality.

Attendees will be able to describe the role of the Breast Health Clinical Navigator in improving patient communication, ensuring care coordination, and increasing patient retention post-biopsy through emotional and logistical support.

Authors

Karla Bouzas is the Senior System Process Engineer at Houston Methodist Hospital. Since joining in March 2021, she has been instrumental in Strategy Execution and Culture Transformation. Karla brings a practical approach to the organization's top-level improvement priorities by utilizing Kaizen Events, coaching, and A3 problem-solving sessions.

Karla is passionate about Operational Excellence and Data Analytics Integration Systems. She actively supports healthcare leaders in developing best practices in Patient Access by establishing standards in EHR scheduling templates, enhancing demand and capacity management, and optimizing resource utilization. Her contributions have notably improved patient access and flow in Breast Care Centers, CT, and MRI departments.

Before joining Houston Methodist, Karla was a Continuous Improvement Manager at Howmet Aerospace and a Quality and Supply Chain Engineer at EnventureGT in the O&G sector. She holds extensive experience designing solutions for complex business problems, leading transformation projects, and implementing continuous improvement initiatives across various industries.

Stephanie Beery is a Project Manager at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital. She joined the organization in 2016 as a Physical Therapist Assistant focusing on the delivery of acute therapy to inpatients. In 2020, she made a career change and transitioned to the Performance Excellence team where she began supporting Strategy Execution and Top-Level Improvement Priorities in Operations. In her current role, her primary focus is the optimization of all imaging modalities. She leads teams through Kaizen events, 5S events, Rapid Problem Solving A3 sessions, and Value Stream Assessments that focus on delivering quality care, improving patient access, and improving flow. Stephanie has a passion for problem-solving and identifying opportunities to better serve the patients and the staff at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital.