Lean Thinking and the Michigan Quality System
What happened the last time you called your wireless provider to make a routine change in your phone plan?
 Chances are you spent more time “on hold” or being transferred than actually speaking with the individual who could help you put that change into effect. Count all the steps, from the time you placed the call until the change actually took place, and it’s likely you will find a series of delays—caused by anything from a shortage of staff to an outdated customer database—that made the scheduling process less efficient than it could have been. How can a wireless company, or any organization, identify bottlenecks or areas of waste that might be slowing a process down, or find new ways to streamline a process for the customer? To answer questions like this, managers are increasingly turning to a widely used management strategy called "lean thinking." Based on the management philosophy of the Toyota Production System, lean thinking seeks to maximize value from the customer’s perspective by eliminating waste and error in a process and improving flow. A lean organization provides increased value to customers because it consumes fewer resources (time, human effort, materials) to get the job done. In other words, it uses less to do more.
To this end, Health System leadership has adapted the principles of lean thinking into its own Michigan Quality System. The goal of MQS is to provide a consistent approach to quality and process improvement across the Health System. Michigan Quality System teams are engaged in a variety of quality improvement projects addressing high priority institutional issues. One such project—the PICC Line Project—held a successful lean workshop last March. Individuals from Vascular Access Services, X-ray, Inpatient Clerical and Interventional Radiology joined forces to reduce delays for adult inpatients requiring placement of catheters used in intravenous therapy (PICC lines). After discovering 14 major areas of waste, the members recommended interventions for each and created a 90-day implementation plan to improve quality of service, reduce length of stay and increase patient satisfaction.
Another lean initiative was undertaken in conjunction with the Orders Management Project. The team looked at the medication management process "end-to-end" to consider how to improve the accuracy of medications received by patients and the timelines of getting medications to patients. The OMP will establish a system for electronic ordering and filling of prescriptions that should result in a dramatic reduction of the risks associated with written orders and multiple “hand offs” of information from one provider to the next, the project will ensure safer, more accurate delivery of medications.
These are just two of the many UMHS initiatives that integrate lean thinking. Look for other Lean success stories in future issues of UMHS Inside View, and visit the Michigan Quality System to learn more about the concept of lean thinking and how UMHS is using it to improve systems, processes and customer service.
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