DailyKaizen

I read Lee’s post below and think there is a risk of flavor of the month, every day, with everything. I think it takes a concerted effort to draw parallels in what we do in health care with what has been successful in a system like LEAN.

Lee recently gave me the article Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System. As I read it, I realized what a long way we have to go in health care. This is a good thing - we have a lot to strive for.

I was especially interested in the piece about standardized communication, which we are working on right now within our Medical Group. In medicine, we are definitely trained to “present the patient” to each other in a standardized format, and we reach into that skill every time we ask for a consultation on a case. I think LEAN will allow us to further standardize in a helpful way, in terms of the help we are asking for and what is needed. I also relate to what I have heard about in terms of the “inverse pyramid” hierarchy, where the worker that’s closest to the patient is at the top, and leads are beneath them, making sure they are productive. I think that the primary care physician could be at the top of the inverted pyramid, and consultative specialists could be there in support whenever needed, to level course of care and keep the patients healthy. Our system can support that model.

That is where the benefit will be - the content of clinical care. Our members will notice it because it will be directly tied to their care experience, rather than to the support systems around them.

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