In May of this year, we had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Jill Waters, Lean Six Sigma Coordinator at Adventist Health, which is a not-for-profit healthcare organization comprised of over 20 hospitals and over 30 clinics in the U.S.
Jill shared a ton of invaluable process improvement and innovation insights she has learned during her time at Adventist.
In this article, we highlight five key takeaways.
Key takeaways from Adventist Health’s Jill Waters
1. Det finns kraft i enkla observationer.
Jill told a story about how she spotted a barrier to efficiency for an Adventist Health hospital when she first joined the company.
Företaget höll på att övergå från manuella till elektroniska journaler, vilket innebar att alla sjukhus var tvungna att göra omställningen. Detta ledde oundvikligen till en inlärningskurva som, om den inte åtgärdas, kan bromsa utvecklingen.
One hospital in particular, where Jill was temporarily placed, experienced slowdown in progress. They were 3 months behind due to performing unnecessary work.
In two-days, Jill was able to spot the wasteful steps by simply observing what the department was doing. She then trained the staff on the correct way to use the elcontronci medial record equipment fix, which got the hospital back up to speed.
This is an example of how the power of simple observation can lead to significant change, which is the very essence of process improvement. All it takes is one individual to spot a better way of doing something to be more efficient and productive.
2. Små stegvisa förbättringar kan leda till stora förändringar.
Incremental improvements are significantly easier to implement than large, disruptive transformation.
Med detta sagt bör det finnas en balans mellan att tillsammans med medarbetarna skapa idéer för att få fram stegvisa förbättringar (kortsiktiga vinster) och att sikta på en stor systemisk omvandling (långsiktiga vinster).
3. Empower the directors and managers of departments.
When it comes to running an ideation program where process improvement is a focal point, the program manager doesn’t need to be the person that knows it all. Instead, it’s his or her responsibility to give power to department directors and managers. After all, they’re the ones who know where inefficiencies and problem areas lie since they experience them on a day-to-day basis.
Empower directors and managers by giving them a simple way to share the problems their team experiences day-to-day and potential solutions to them.
4. For process improvement to work effectively, it starts at the top.
Jill berättade en historia om hur VD:n för Adventist Healths Central Valley Region drev hårt på för att anställda på chefs- och direktörsnivå skulle lära sig olika metoder för processförbättring för att hitta nya sätt att förbättra befintliga processer och möjligheter att växa.
Detta är en viktig punkt. Cheferna, särskilt vd:arna, måste satsa fullt ut på de initiativ som styr företagets uppdrag, vision och strategi. oavsett om det handlar om produkter eller utbildning. VD:ar måste föregå med gott exempel.
5. Det är varken praktiskt eller skalbart att trycka in hundratals människor i ett rum för att brainstorma.
When you have 10 people that make up a department, brainstorming in a room is easy. But when you have hundreds maybe thousands of employees, brainstorming isn’t as straightforward. This is one reason why many companies turn to Planview IdeaPlace’s idea management software. They need an easy way to brainstorm and collaborate with thousands of employees who are distributed around the world.
Avslutande reflektioner
Adventist Health is pioneering a new era of process improvement through company-wide ideation to great success.
To hear more about Adventist Health’s ideation program and process improvement efforts, I highly recommend you watch this on-demand webinar.
