Today’ post is generously provided by Sharon Ruth of MSDS.  Hope everyone enjoys the early summer holiday!

Let’s use a scenario that I think many of you have experienced….  Imagine that you have never flown in an airplane, you will be taking your first flight and confess to being a little nervous and unsure of what to expect.

You approach the ticket counter and notice several partially destroyed pieces of luggage stacked among the mountain of paper files along the wall.  Appearing frustrated, the ticket agent mumbles, “Where are the luggage labels?  I hate working here”.  The agent finally looks up, notices you, and blurts out “Destination?”  You try to explain that you bought your ticket online and unfortunately, more than one airline is involved.  You are interrupted with the next verbal command, “Name”?  After several minutes, the flight information is located and the boarding pass is issued.  You are advised that there are no more luggage labels.  You must take your luggage to another ticket counter to get it checked.  Worried that you will never see your luggage again, you follow the instructions and hope for the best.

Feeling quite proud of yourself, you survived the gauntlet of security screeners and make your way to the gate.  Following a 2-hour delay in departure due to mechanical problems, you are about to board the plane.  As you make your way down the jet-way, you notice numerous brief cases, bags, and boxes.  Seeing no explanation for this, you keep moving with your personal belongings on to the plane.  There is no one to greet you as you enter.  Walking down the aisle, you pass two seats with crime scene tape and a “Broken” sign across them.  You quickly begin to realize why the bags were on the jet-way – the overhead compartments are overflowing.  You locate your assigned seat, only to find another passenger claims to have the identical seat assignment.  Ringing the flight attendant call bell, you contemplate whether you should attempt to just get off of the plane or keep fighting for the basic services for which you paid.

Would you want to fly this airline?  Would you feel confident that the flight would make it safely to its destination after so many problems?

Consistent application of lean principles could drastically improve this first time flyer’s experience.

• 5S Points of Public Reception
• Consistent Staff Training
• Squeeze the Waste out of Front End Value Streams
• Institute Proactive Preventive Maintenance
• Clear Visual Management for Customers and Staff

A hospital admission, physician appointment or outpatient procedure can be as intimidating as a first time flying experience.  Customer perceptions, both positive and negative are shaped by the queues along the process flow to obtaining that product or service.  You are busy healthcare providers; you often become numb to essentially identical frustrations to those described in the airline scenario.  It is important to step into the gemba, look at the patient experience with fresh lean eyes, and ask the question, “Are we promoting a positive first impression?  Would our patient intake process frustrate or satisfy me if I were the customer?”

For more information, please contact Sharon Ruth MSDIS  (302) 397-0173

As we’ve begun our Lean education to Delaware organizations of all shapes and sizes, we’re often asked “how do you get an organization excited and motivated to change?” Other than old fashioned leadership that is required for any change, in many organizations they need a crisis to rally and focus the organization. Are you nearing a crisis yet? Well we think it goes without saying that no one could craft a crisis of the magnitude we’re currently in to motivate change. Our fear is that we’ll let this current crisis go to waste (in all industries and government) without capitalizing upon it. You don’t have to be a futurist to know that other crisis’ in healthcare are on the horizon (rising costs on one side of the equation with rising demand on the other) which loomed even before this current financial mess presented itself. Those issues haven’t gone away.

Lean (Healthcare) focuses on the elimination of Waste to improve customer or patient value (cost, quality, safety, satisfaction), and it puts the value in people. Many Lean practitioners even consider “under-utilized talent” as a form of Waste within itself. In this financial environment we find the perfect time to invest in our people more than ever, and to do more with the same amount of equipment and facilities given the lack of capital. This is what made Toyota, Toyota. They are currently the best equipped to weather this drastic downturn that is effecting the entire auto industry, and the system they developed over many years initially came about as a matter of necessity after WWII with little to no resources. They had no choice but to eliminate Waste and they are much better off today as a result.

In many instances there isn’t a choice of whether or not to change. Yes we know, it isn’t easy to make Lean a way of life, but the alternative is to struggle not only now but for many years to come. Utilize Lean principles and tools to accelerate solving the problems that committees are spending countless hours on that are not producing results right now (Lean is about making change now). Capitalize upon your staff’s ability to solve problems via Lean Healthcare principles, removing waste from your processes, and striving for the IDEAL. In our opinion, those organizations that do will kill the competition as this financial climate improves. This is a capital investment that is proven to provide a positive return in the long term.

For More Information Contact:

Jim Jones DEMEP (302) 283-3135

jjones@demep.org

Sharon Ruth Willis of DE/MSDIS (302) 397-0173

sruth@zutzgroup.com