DailyKaizen

Over the last week I have begun to pull together a strategy for our expansion efforts of the Model Line work.  We are going to begin the process of value stream mapping with a group of leaders the upstream functions from where we began last year.  The scope of the work is daunting, yet, it is very exciting.  When we started the Model Line work we focused almost 100% on redesigning the operational areas and we purposely decided to avoid the design process (I will discuss our rationale in a future posting).  In this new effort we will focus on both the operations as well as much of the design process, which will offer all kinds of new learning’s. 

At the risk of being vague I will do my best to share my thinking on the functions we will be exploring and what we are planning to do differently then change efforts in the past.  In many ways these functions are a crossroad between the financing and the delivery of healthcare.  For those of you that know healthcare there are many challenges that not only our organization, but all healthcare organizations are facing in these areas.  As a result of these challenges the organization has continuously wrestled with the purpose and design of these functions.  

Many change efforts have been kicked off, but few have gained much traction.   Why?  I believe it is because as an organization we have not viewed these processes through the eyes of our members.  Instead, we have tried to design them around the needs of internal functions and regulatory agencies, which puts us in a situation of gridlock.  Caught, like all healthcare organizations in a world where financing and delivery are not in alignment.

So we are going to try something differently this time.  I ran off to Barnes and Noble the other day and purchased a couple copies of Womack’s and Jones new book LEAN Solutions.  The book shares a methodology that if followed allows you to map the provision, consumption and production processes together so that you are clearly bringing the needs of the center front and center.  We plan on following this process and our hope is that we can move the conversation away from what we need and transition it to what the member and patients needs.  I am confident that we can be successful, because every leader I am going to have on the team is committed to providing the best experience possible for our members.  They just have never been given the opportunity to see the entire experience through the eyes of the member and this is exactly what is needed to bring organizational focus in defining purpose of the process in the first place. 

Trackback This Post | Subscribe to the comments through RSS Feed