by Ted Eytan, on 13 Apr 2006 05:55 am
The Journey
Speaking of the Gemba
I hear what you are saying about the Gemba.
I had a similar experience yesterday, when the Executive Director of Quality/Informatics and I visited one of our contracted medical centers, in Vashon, Washington, to explore the issue of “information continuity” with them.
What we had heard was that there were challenges in providing this affiliated medical group with data about their patients who received some services in their system. After reading e-mails and other communications about the problem, I had formed a fairly good conclusion of what I thought the key issues and fixes were. However, when we went to the actual site and talked to the care providers, a completely different picture emerged. I got a much better sense of the experience for the customer, the patient, and we were able to put a very significant fix in for this group, using technology that we are currently rolling out.
Our course of action was almost completely changed after going to the Gemba. I feel much more confident in supporting these physicians and the members they care for. Sometimes, e-mail is the wasteful modality and a ferry ride and a morning of time are the valuable ones.
Not to mention that the bumper stickers are much more interesting at the Gemba!