Saving Lives, and Costs, With Lean Six Sigma
Like most people, I enjoy a good story. I especially like stories that have happy endings. While I usually read fiction for pleasure, I particularly enjoy true business case studies that showcase successful workplace problem solving. In the February 2017 issue of the ISE Magazine, Navicent Health’s Casey Bedgood tells a great story about the use of performance improvement techniques (PI) to save lives, as well as save costs. Georgia-based Navicent Health’s EMS department operates ambulance services in both rural and suburban settings across a four-county area. Their 911 call volume exceeds 40,000 calls a year! While Navicent has long been a well-respected provider with a strong reputation for clinical excellence, the organization was experiencing a variety of operational inefficiencies in 2013. The PI team identified several areas for improvement, including an outdated pay and staffing model, response times, and the number of emergency calls lost to competitors due to these problems. The team collected data to establish baselines and develop control charts. This information was then used to set key performance indicators (KPIs) for operational problems. The team also recommended changes to pay scales and shift lengths, allowing for better coverage in both rural and suburban settings. One year later, the results of these efforts were quite significant. Navicent Health EMS saved almost $800, 000 per year while reducing emergency response times by more than 37,000 minutes, a 12% improvement. Bedgood states that well-defined goals and KPIs, measurable in real time, were essential in obtaining long-term, sustainable change. For most companies, time is money. But for the patients of Navicent, quicker response times truly mean the difference between life and death. This is just one of many success stories being written by the 6,000 employees at Navicent. The health system/academic medical center serves 800,000 residents in Central and South Georgia with 830 beds for medical, surgical, rehab and hospice care in more than 30 locations. In 2015, the hospital system created its Center for Disruption and Innovation, in partnership with Mercer University. The Center, where Bedgood is now a black belt leadership fellow, focuses on creative thinking and problem solving using Lean Six Sigma and other techniques to develop successful strategies — just like in the EMS case study — that ultimately will significantly improve care for patients. How are you helping your company to work smarter by reducing the amount of time spent on non-productive activities and correcting errors? If your business processes need a “check-up,” please email me at michael@leadingchangeforgood.com! I’d love to help you get back to a healthy, productive...
Read MoreIs Your Organization Ready for a Change?
I attend a lot of meetings with local business owners, executives, and employees. Despite their position in their organization, I often hear the same general question: “How can I make my _________ (work, department, business) run better?” For someone in the continuous improvement (CI) field, I am usually intrigued by these questions and immediately begin to ask myself, “How can I help in this situation?” Quite often, however, I will hear the same person say, “We tried to fix the problem, but it just came back (or never went away).” Thus, they are more frustrated and reluctant to consider a CI solution since the last one failed. CI is not a one-size-fits-all program. Just as in most aspects of business, there are many ways to address a situation. Often, what works in a small company will not work in a large organization. The concepts, tools, improvements, and implementation methods utilized in CI must be carefully designed for each case. Failure to take this into account can (and often does) lead to either a poor result or a process that is more “broken” than before it was “fixed”. Key to any CI program is the involvement of management. No matter how much time and effort a CI team invests in a project, the involvement of leadership to support recommended changes and remove barriers is essential. CI cannot be only from the bottom up, but must also come from the top down. CI is a topic that is often talked about, either at the water cooler or at business meetings. How CI is supported and implemented makes the difference between financial benefits and increased employee engagement vs. a program where CI is considered a four-letter word. How are you helping your company to work smarter by reducing the amount of time spent on non-productive activities and correcting errors? If your business processes need a “check-up,” please email me at michael@leadingchangeforgood.com! I’d love to help you get back to a healthy, productive...
Read MoreA Solution Looking for a Problem
I am often asked, “What makes a good Lean Six Sigma (LSS) project?” There are many factors to be considered, including project scope, potential savings, and available data. Often it is better to delay a project until the appropriate information is available. There are times when a LSS project is not the best course of action. On occasion, an in-depth study is not needed to solve a problem. Many times, the solution is readily available. In these cases, it is best to follow the advice of a familiar sporting goods company and “Just do it.” Another reason to not use a LSS team is when a solution has already been decided upon. Sometimes a manager develops a solution that he or she wants to implement and then looks for a way to justify the decision. It is important to be able to identify these “backdoor solutions.” A continuous improvement (CI) team should not be used to promote a potentially political agenda. There are effective and ineffective ways to utilize CI. Forcing a team to use a preconceived solution is not a good use of a CI team. Neither is asking a team to develop a solution that is obvious. A healthy CI program must be able to identify when a project is appropriate for a team or is simply something that needs permission for implementation. How are you helping your company to work smarter by reducing the amount of time spent on non-productive activities and correcting errors? If your business processes need a “check-up,” please email me at michael@leadingchangeforgood.com! I’d love to help you get back to a healthy, productive workplace....
Read MoreFootball and Lean Six Sigma: A Winning Combo
I grew up in Texas, where football is almost a religion. I spent my youth watching the Dallas Cowboys and Tom Landry. While the Cowboys have had their ups and downs, I still follow the team. Needless to say, I was disappointed when Dallas lost in the playoffs. So I’ll be rooting for the (second) best team in football during the Super Bowl. While football is not as popular in Indianapolis as it is in Texas, several of my friends are very involved in fantasy football leagues. They enjoy the challenge (as imaginary general managers and coaches) of attempting to put together a team of the best players in football. As the name implies, these coaches can select the best players regardless of their current team. Continuous improvement (CI) teams have the opportunity create their own variation of a fantasy team by using a Pugh Matrix analysis. While a team will develop many potential improvement scenarios, no scenario will be able to fulfill all the requirements of a given process. A Pugh Matrix analysis allows a CI team to compare options for each step of a process compared to the original process, deciding if the option is worse than, equal to, or better than the original and choose the best option for each step. The team can then build another variation of the process incorporating these options, creating a new, optimized process. Just as a fantasy team manager develops his or her best team, the CI team develops their best improvements by pulling options from several possible scenarios. While each situation has its pluses and minuses, a Pugh Matrix analysis allows a CI team to make the best possible improvement solution. How are you helping your company to work smarter by reducing the amount of time spent on non-productive activities and correcting errors? If your business processes need a “check-up,” please email me at michael@leadingchangeforgood.com! I’d love to help you get back to a healthy, productive...
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