Lean Healthcare Services

Our approach is unique in the Lean Healthcare industry. With backgrounds in both Healthcare and Industry our experienced Lean practitioners will help your organization realize immediate long term results and make Lean a way of conducting daily work. The enthusiasm of staff for adopting the Lean method and makeing improvements is gratifying to observe and can be objectively measured.

As a physician trying to fix process problems in healthcare, I was blown away by the simplicity and effectiveness of the tools taught by Cindy Jimmerson in the reVIEW Course. The A3 is both a visual document and a way of thinking. It captures so much of the real essence of effective process change and brings the Toyota Production System to life in the healthcare environment. Front line nurses and physicians can finally "see" a project with an end point that they understand and helped build. It is also very powerful to help them understand that we are never done: the target condition becomes the new current condition and we keep on improving the process.

James Nesbitt, MD, MMM
Providence Health Service
Anchorage, Alaska

Here is the pattern that has proven most successful in the hospitals in which we have recently implemented TPS/Lean:

This is not only essential to determine the leadership commitment and engagement, and to establish a realistic goal for implementation. Organizational success with this program depends completely on alignment of senior leadership direction, understanding and participation

Generally a full-day retreat event that includes a presentation by the CEO to establish this work as a priority, and education to initiate the understanding and implementation of the system

5-day events that focus on one high value processes that justifies a significant commitment of resource; 6-12 front line staff and key stakeholderswho are directly involved with the work selected will be guided through the discovery and correction of the process with the goals of reducing waste and frustration and improving the service to the patient. Thorough understanding of the work and data collection is gathered by our staff to assist the hospital staff in this endeavor.

reVIEW© Course

14 hours of participant training (maximum 16 participants/course), conducted two hours/week over a seven week period, in which participants are given assignments to apply the principles and tools learned to something that pertains to their current work; each week’s lesson scaffolds on the previous week and participants produce real improvements while they learn the process and develop habits that will contribute to economizing their work
One-on-one coaching of the participants with the work they have chosen for the course; this assures that participants are clear on the concepts and that they receive individual assistance applying what they’ve learned to the work they have chosen to improve
A 4-hour coaching class to prepare willing/chosen graduates of the participant course to coach co-workers through the problem solving process

Choosing the first course participants is critical in starting the program on solid ground; generally a mix of upper and middle management, educators, quality and risk management and frontline staff assures that all levels of the organization get involved, which is essential in establishing independence and sustainability. Ideally, over time each unit will develop at least 2 strong “coaches”, to whom the staff looks for problem solving assistance and whose responsibilities will be to insure that no problem goes unaddressed or unreported and that improvement activities are generated.

Additionally, HPPLHW offers our customers the capacity to teach the reVIEW© Course internally. We offer a subsequent instructor course (up to 2 instructors from the graduates of the each course of 16 participants) and another 8-week session to allow instructors to co-teach and co-coach with us to build confidence and independence. On completion of the co-teaching and co-coaching, qualified instructors will be certified to teach the course in your own institution. All course materials have been developed and used by HPPLHW staff and are available to new instructors to make this a complete turn-key program.

Our staff assists the customer organization in planning future courses to define growth of Lean activities through the organization. This definition insures rigor, regularity and involvement as Lean takes hold in an organization.

HPPLHW’s staff of Lean-experienced engineers, manufacturers and health care innovators are available to act as coaches for complex problems or when an organization is ready to take a step to the “next level”.

For more information about bringing Lean to your healthcare organization contact us at: info@leanhealthcarewest.com or call (406) 258-6535 or (615) 206-0191

Lean Healthcare West

Lean Healthcare Services