by Ted Eytan, on 15 Dec 2006 05:02 pm
The Journey
Connecting the Dots Across the Spectrum of Care
Today I visited with Lee and my colleagues in the Customer Service Center, along with our Chief Information Officer. Actually, we didn’t just visit. We plugged right in. Literally. To headsets and customer service professionals’ workstations. This group has been studying and implementing LEAN principles as we have, so they knew immediately what we needed - to watch and listen to care being provided to members.
It was a great experience in so many ways.
First, I saw a different side of health care - that of a member doing the work required to acquire and maintain their health benefits. For a member aging into Medicare, this is a very important transition, and I could hear it in their voices. What I observed was that our customer service staff were doing as much as a physician might to - obtain a history, do an exam, make a diagnosis, and collaboratively create a plan. All without being able to see or touch. The experience creates great awareness and respect that the non-clinical portion of health care is as important as the clinical one in terms of empowering patients and supporting the patient-physician relationship. I am grateful once again that I work in a system where we can create improvements in both the clinical and non-clinical parts of health care.
Second, in speaking with the management following the shop floor experience, it was very clear that they understood LEAN concepts. Again, I had the feeling of traveling to an international destination and meeting someone with the same cultural background. The team knew about takt time and value added and non-value added activities and were working to enhance value for our members. It was and is energizing to know that there are even more people for me to learn from.
My last impression, and the one that was most profound for me, is that the members calling about aging into Medicare were all baby boomers. It is sobering to see first hand that they’ve arrived to this point at their lives. This is the generation that had boundless energy and enthusiasm for improvement on so many levels. And now they are facing a potentially challenging transition, away from full independence. I could hear it on the headset. It is humbling. Our continued care and compassion for this group, one that sacrificed so much for those that came after them, will be vital.