Craig Deao, the research and development leader for Studer Group, and the former senior director of education and networking at VHA, an alliance of 2,200 healthcare organizations, has a great deal of experience in facilitating the exchange of best practices among healthcare organizations. Lean management is one of these best practices that he has seen hospitals institute, but he warns that if not introduced into organizations in a meaningful manner, the potential benefits it offers will not be realized.
1. Viewing lean as a standalone cure all. Lean management should be thought of as any other process improvement tool — a resource to meet the goals of evidenced-based leadership. Evidence-based leadership emphasizes decision-making based upon progress or lack of progress toward measurable goals and evaluates the performance of leaders based on their ability to meet these goals. Organizations that simply implement lean processes without aligning it with the organization's overall goals or putting in steps to determine if using the tool is successful will not be able to sustain the use of the tool in the long run, says Mr. Deao.
"Leaders first need to examine if they have the right evaluation systems in place to make sure they can effectively use the tool. They need to have a culture of accountability in place if [leaders or staff] are not compliant," he says. "Initiatives will pass by the wayside if there is no tool for sustainability."
After leaders determine that they can indeed measure the success of the initiative and sustain employee compliance, they should set targets, based on the organization's goals, to achieve using the tool.
2. Not adapting to healthcare. Because lean management was originally intended for manufacturing industries, healthcare organization need to adapt lean principles to fit their unique context, rather than simply adopting them, says Mr. Deao.
"Many times when organizations embrace lean [management], they shift their way of thinking and talking to more of an engineering mindset. While that has advantages, leaders need to be mindful that in this process they don't erode what I believe is the most powerful advantage we have in healthcare — that our people are driven by the desire to make a difference in the lives of others," he says. "As healthcare leaders embrace lean, they will find more powerful results and have a better likelihood of sustaining the results if they focus on explaining the stories of the people behind the numbers. Every dot on a chart has a story and a human face to it."
3. Not committing enough resources. Hospitals that successfully implement lean principles commit significant resources, both financial and labor-wise, to process improvement. Hospital leadership needs to be willing to make these investments in training and program sustainability, and allow employees time during their shifts to be part of process improvement groups.
"It just has to be the CEO and senior team owning and driving this. You're just not going to get the same outcome if it's delegated to a process improvement team," says Mr. Deao. "The CEO is not the exclusive driver, of course, but he or she needs to keep it as a
management philosophy front and center."
4. Finding satisfaction with meeting benchmarks. Organizations that stop improving when they meet industry benchmarks for various indicators are missing a key concept of lean management — continuous improvement.
"If you're using lean effectively, you want to drive your indicators way past the benchmarks. Shoot for the theoretical best," says Mr. Deao. "One great example is ThedaCare [a community health system based in Appleton, Wisc.]. They ran the number-one-rated health plan on several indicators, but they had a defect rate that they didn't think was good enough, so they focused on improving it. Ignore the benchmarks and aim for perfection."
Mr. Deao says that the lean principle of constant improvement is beginning to resonate more and more with healthcare organizations as they work to identify areas for improvements. "People are starting to recognize that being best in the healthcare industry may not be that good enough."
5. Labeling it "lean." By labeling lean processes specifically as "lean," hospital employees may see this type of philosophy as just another management fad, says Mr. Deao.
"Lean needs to become a way you act and a part of your language. You have to fully embed it in your culture," he says. "Don't call it an initiative; just say it's how to run a great hospital."
Learn more about Studer Group.
1. Viewing lean as a standalone cure all. Lean management should be thought of as any other process improvement tool — a resource to meet the goals of evidenced-based leadership. Evidence-based leadership emphasizes decision-making based upon progress or lack of progress toward measurable goals and evaluates the performance of leaders based on their ability to meet these goals. Organizations that simply implement lean processes without aligning it with the organization's overall goals or putting in steps to determine if using the tool is successful will not be able to sustain the use of the tool in the long run, says Mr. Deao.
"Leaders first need to examine if they have the right evaluation systems in place to make sure they can effectively use the tool. They need to have a culture of accountability in place if [leaders or staff] are not compliant," he says. "Initiatives will pass by the wayside if there is no tool for sustainability."
After leaders determine that they can indeed measure the success of the initiative and sustain employee compliance, they should set targets, based on the organization's goals, to achieve using the tool.
2. Not adapting to healthcare. Because lean management was originally intended for manufacturing industries, healthcare organization need to adapt lean principles to fit their unique context, rather than simply adopting them, says Mr. Deao.
"Many times when organizations embrace lean [management], they shift their way of thinking and talking to more of an engineering mindset. While that has advantages, leaders need to be mindful that in this process they don't erode what I believe is the most powerful advantage we have in healthcare — that our people are driven by the desire to make a difference in the lives of others," he says. "As healthcare leaders embrace lean, they will find more powerful results and have a better likelihood of sustaining the results if they focus on explaining the stories of the people behind the numbers. Every dot on a chart has a story and a human face to it."
3. Not committing enough resources. Hospitals that successfully implement lean principles commit significant resources, both financial and labor-wise, to process improvement. Hospital leadership needs to be willing to make these investments in training and program sustainability, and allow employees time during their shifts to be part of process improvement groups.
"It just has to be the CEO and senior team owning and driving this. You're just not going to get the same outcome if it's delegated to a process improvement team," says Mr. Deao. "The CEO is not the exclusive driver, of course, but he or she needs to keep it as a
management philosophy front and center."
4. Finding satisfaction with meeting benchmarks. Organizations that stop improving when they meet industry benchmarks for various indicators are missing a key concept of lean management — continuous improvement.
"If you're using lean effectively, you want to drive your indicators way past the benchmarks. Shoot for the theoretical best," says Mr. Deao. "One great example is ThedaCare [a community health system based in Appleton, Wisc.]. They ran the number-one-rated health plan on several indicators, but they had a defect rate that they didn't think was good enough, so they focused on improving it. Ignore the benchmarks and aim for perfection."
Mr. Deao says that the lean principle of constant improvement is beginning to resonate more and more with healthcare organizations as they work to identify areas for improvements. "People are starting to recognize that being best in the healthcare industry may not be that good enough."
5. Labeling it "lean." By labeling lean processes specifically as "lean," hospital employees may see this type of philosophy as just another management fad, says Mr. Deao.
"Lean needs to become a way you act and a part of your language. You have to fully embed it in your culture," he says. "Don't call it an initiative; just say it's how to run a great hospital."
Learn more about Studer Group.