Recently, I completed a Certificate Program on Lean Healthcare Management with a group of 27 individuals. The Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business at Belmont University in conjunction with Healthcare Performance Partners (HPP), and The Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (PRHI) provides a Lean Healthcare Certificate Program to interested parties several times a year. This Certificate Program is designed for leaders who desire to understand the tools and knowledge necessary to drive Lean Healthcare throughout their entire organization. The Program really energized me in a very unique way to view work and work processes within the organization.
It provided me with valuable tools and insights on how to recognize inefficiency and waste within the work environment as well as how to implement changes with coworkers in order to gain their commitment and support for the improvements. I was able to work with other healthcare managers around the world to exchange ideas and obtain hands-on group experiences in applying lean management tools under simulated work conditions. While the Lean Principles are borrowed from the Toyota Production System (TPS), the Lean Management concept really attempts to capture the grass-roots, frontline support of learning by doing and to compel individuals to be consciously aware of the barriers to process improvements in the workplace. The Certificate Program provided greater details and insights into the healthcare setting and how to visually understand the system. The Program provided ways to map the inefficiencies and tools to change the processes for more appropriate work design.
Lean Healthcare Terminology such as A3 Thinking, Kaizen Events, Observing with New Eyes, and the 5 whys were given special emphasis during the program. A3 Thinking addresses the problem identification, the cause or current state of the condition, the future state solution, and the action and measurement of the results. The Kaizen Events (Japanese for continuous incremental improvement) were structured rapid improvements using Lean Healthcare tools to eliminate waste using Value Stream Mapping. This process results in rapid idea generation and testing. The 5 Why’s focused on drilling down to the core reason something is happening in the workplace rather than focusing on the ‘Who’ which is often the “Blame Game” in healthcare management. The seminar also focused on the three rules of work design (activities, connections, and pathways) in order to observe and institute high quality in the shortest time necessary, thus eliminating wasted time and dollars related to unnecessary steps and costs. In addition, the seminar emphasized the 5S system (Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain) to help standardize and increase both functionality and visual support within the healthcare workplace.
The Lean Management Program Faculty made a valuable point that it is crucial for the organization’s leadership to be supportive and involved for the Lean Healthcare process to succeed and to maintain its momentum. The Lean Management concept requires that the management team be on board with hands on activities that allow the front line individuals to make the changes and the culture to be transformed into this collaborative sprit of growth and innovation. The Program Faculty are quick to emphasize that the Lean Healthcare Management system is not a quick fix, is not designed to eliminate personnel to create a weak and frail organization. It is a cultural change that can take many months to firmly develop the foundation and establish long term sustainability. The primary emphasis is to improve efficiencies and eliminate waste to allow employees more time for productive and meaningful tasks, not to eliminate employees to support staff reductions. If you are interested in learning more about the Lean Healthcare Management Certificate Program and the activities associated with the process improvement, please go to: with http://www.buleancourse.com/