Lumetra Healthcare Solutions

Every healthcare leader is faced with the daunting imperative to continuously do more with less.  Each year we are faced with decreased reimbursement, more uninsured people needing care, and worsening shortages of healthcare professionals. Our staff and physicians are stetched to the maximum, patient safety suffers, and our work is not as satisfying as it once was. How can we cope?

I suggest that we change our philosophy and re-define the problem. We have scarce resources, but, in comparison to most countries, our healthcare resources are immense. We can deploy our talented staff and innovative technologies to achieve more efficiency and better results.

I have had great success in applying “Lean Management” methods based on the Toyota Production Model within our company and with our clients. Lean management asks us to do the following:

• Allow the people who do the work to re-design the work processes
• Processes need to flow without interruption and add value to the customer
• The team outlines or maps the actual process in detail in order to identify wasted steps, unnecessary hand-offs, re-work, and unproductive time
• Focus efforts to identify and eliminate waste through incremental short projects that build on one another for sustained change.

This methodology allows us to go beyond continuous quality improvement. It engages and empowers staff members, who are the experts in the work, to improve the work. It uses staff skills appropriately and does not waste their talents, skills, and time. The improvement is quick and sustainable.

The outcome for lean is not to cut costs and save money. Rather, it is to make our work more efficient, satisfying, and less frustrating. When we get rid of waste we will be able to do more with what we already have. Let us know if we can help you get Lean!