Lean management is an approach to value creation through improving operational efficiency and cutting waste. Pioneered by Toyota Production System, the philosophy behind lean champions developing a core staff of problem solvers and empowers front-line workers to innovate for continuous improvement. Hospitals, health systems and healthcare companies are turning to lean philosophies to develop stronger, more sustainable organizations.
“Lean is the same regardless of the industry it’s applied to — it’s the fact that it’s driving to value,” said Mr. Owad. “If you want to interpret outcome as clinical quality or clinical outcome, it’s still value in the eyes of the primary customer, that primary customer being the patient in the provider’s sense. But frankly, whether I’m in the automotive, supply chain manufacturing or service industry, it all starts with the value equation.”
He cautioned organizations not to focus on applying tools to create a lean enterprise but instead to invest in change at the management level. A truly lean organization has leadership aligned with employees who have the ability to immediately solve problems. As Cardinal Health has transformed into a lean enterprise over the past several years, the company changed it deployed strategy and measured progress to create value.
Both panelists agreed lean enterprises are continually evolving; while projects and initiatives may have an endpoint, the lean concept remains a constant.
“This is not a destination, it’s a journey,” said Dr. Hasan. “It doesn’t end. What is changing here is culture. We are trying to change the culture and what we are saying to you as a group when we are trying to launch something is that leadership will be accountable. At the end of the day when things don’t go well, I’ll take the blame. But what I want you to do on the front line is to say, ‘You are the problem solvers; this is your world, you know it best and I want you to give us feedback.’ Most importantly, I tell them, ‘You aren’t going to work your way out of the job. I’m not going to fire you.’ Some people have that in the back of their minds as well.”
Any time Dr. Hasan oversees a lean process initiative, he breaks down each step of the process and traces the methodology to truly understand the entire process from beginning to end. Leadership must be present, invested and accountable in lean initiatives to drive improvement, he said. Additionally, bringing in others such as engineers and IT personnel can inject the project with a different perspective.
Dr. Hasan also discussed the importance of sharing the benefit of lean organizations with staff members.
“Whatever changes you make, you have to make sure the staff also see the benefit to themselves,” he said. “You’re probably working at facilities where some of the nurses are stressed, some of the physicians are stressed and there is a lot of burnout. Make sure any lean initiative you are doing, you take into account whether it makes things better for them as well. Make sure they can see it and feel it.”
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