 |
Complete Health Care Resources |
Leaning Toward Lean: Clear Thinking For Better
Health Care
by: Maya Talisman Frost
Mindfulness is all about paying attention. It's amazing
what can be accomplished when mindfulness is applied to systems that need
all the attention they can get. If there's an industry that needs some CPR
and TLC, it's healthcare.
Cindy Jimmerson is a 30-year trauma nurse who is
passionate about streamlining healthcare processes. Her consulting
company, Lean HealthCare West, is blasting through always-done-it-that-way
thinking to reduce waiting time for patients, eliminate staff errors, and
save hospitals and patients millions of dollars.
She is the Queen of Lean in hospitals, and she's on a
mission to improve the health of our country's largest industry--$1.76
trillion in 2002, and soon to explode as the baby-boomers hit their
sixties.
When it comes to looking for powerful tools for
transforming processes, we're fortunate to have a proven model that
continues to outperform peers around the world. The Toyota Production
System was originally developed by an American, W. Edwards Deming, who
couldn't get anyone in the U.S. to pay attention to his approach. The
Japanese listened and learned. Today, TPS continues to propel industries
toward greater productivity, less waste, improved quality, and increased
workplace appreciation.
Cindy's firm takes TPS straight to the ER and beyond.
Now, you might think that a model focusing on getting product moved
through the assembly line more efficiently is completely inappropriate for
handling human patients. You would be dead wrong.
TPS focuses on adding value to what matters most--in this
case, caring for patients. In doing so, it takes a hard look at every step
taken which results in less contact with those who need care. The customer
is king, and in healthcare, the customer is the patient. Instead of
developing ways to make hospitals more profitable by relegating the
patient to widget status, TPS restores the patient as the primary focus.
How refreshing!
There's a common misconception that people do not like
change. I happen to love rearranging rooms every season. However, I'd
probably get a little cranky if I walked into my house and found that
someone else had moved all the furniture.
The real story is that people do not like change that is
imposed upon them, but they appreciate being part of the solution.
Employees using TPS love having the opportunity to creatively explore
options that allow them to perform their work with greater efficiency. And
why not? It helps them reconnect to the best parts of their job.
Toyota walks its talk. It would be one thing if the
company had a policy of being "open to suggestions" while rarely making
any changes. But Toyota consistently acts on its employees'
recommendations. In fact, the most recent figures indicate that the
company implemented 99% of its yearly total of over 700,000 employee
ideas!
That same emphasis on valuing the knowledge and
experience of employees and trusting them to develop better processes is
the key to tackling healthcare's estimated waste--a whopping 50%.
TPS is mindfulness in action--paying attention to extra
steps, inconvenient sequences, and indirect communication. The best part?
Anyone can do it.
Doctors, nurses and other hospital workers are
hard-working, compassionate people who are committed to providing their
patients with top-notch care. Broken systems get in the way. Mindful
management can repair those systems, and in the process, everyone wins.
Mindfulness at work? It works.
Talk to your doctor about getting lean.
Maya Talisman Frost is a mind masseuse offering
specialized mindfulness training to indiviuals and corporate groups in the
Pacific Northwest. To subscribe to her free weekly ezine, visit
http://www.massageyourmind.com. To learn more about lean healthcare,
visit
http://leanhealthcarewest.com
maya@massageyourmind.com
|
|
 |
Additional Health Care Resources |
Title: #1 - The Pitbull Guide -
Pitbull Training and Behavior
Description: The Pitbull Guide - The #1 book about Pitbulls. Includes
everything you need to know to have a happy, healthy and well behaved
Pitbull. Advice on everything from training to care
and health concerns.
Click for Details
Title: #2 -
english bulldog health
care
Description:
english bulldog health
care
Click for Details
Title: #3 -
WebNurseOnline-the advocate
Description: Learn self-health advocacy. How to get
what you need for your health
care from doctors, insurance companies, nursing homes, home
health, rehabilitation centers.
Click for Details Title: #4 -
Primary care
Oral health Action Kit! Best Practices Uncut!
Description: Expose on the connection between oral health,
heart disease, strokes, diabeties, kidney disease...
Click for Details Title: #5 -
Dog training Book, dog
health Information, dog grooming, dog breeds,
dog care
Description: dog training Book, dog health
Information, dog grooming, dog breeds, dog
care
Click for Details
|