faq

KaiNexus has modules and features to support organization-wide Lean and kaizen efforts such as its Kaizen Event module. It allows organizations that use Kaizen Events to manage the communications and improvements efforts in an organize method. You can identify the sponsor, facilitator, leaders, and participants. Files related to the Event are all kept in one centralized place. The metrics section of the Event allows easy visualization of the outcomes and results of the event including time and cost saved. Lean and kaizen projects can also be easily managed in the system as well. Its easy to build a virtual committee and task lists allow collaboration at an unparalleled level.

Absolutely not. First off, we have built a great education module that helps educate you and your staff. Secondly, check out the resources section of our web site where there is a link to Mark Graban's blog and some books we highly recommend. Thirdly, the improvement journey is a long one; everyone must start somewhere. Finally, if your organization is really serious about implementing a continuous improvement culture, we recommend you look at our partners page. All of our partners are highly regarded in the lean/kaizen health care world and offer consulting and training services that provide a deeper understanding of improvement methodologies.

We are excited to report that we have an iOS app that runs on both the iPhone and iPad. It allows a person to submit an Opportunity for Improvement right from their phone. They can even attach a picture to it and they can dictate right into KaiNexus Mobile if their iPhone supports it.

The core KaiNexus web application currently runs on most Android tablets. We recommend the 10” tablets and our recent user interface redesign kept this screen size in mind. KaiNexus can be run on the iPad with the use on OnLive as it allows Flash based programs to run seamlessly on the iPad. Of course, KaiNexus runs great in the most commonly used web browsers on PCs or Macs. Users have the exact same interface regardless of the browser and platform used.

We don’t view this as an either or type of question. There is a lot of ground that needs to be covered to put health care on the right track. The solutions to the problems that health care faces will come from many different sources. Naturally, we think having a culture of continuous improvement is a key component to having a world class health care organization. Additionally, High Reliability training is really important work. Interestingly there is much overlap with Lean methodologies. For example, some of the concepts that are found in both bodies of knowledge include the use of checklists and creating a respectful environment so people speak up when errors are about to occur.

So understanding that this is not an either or type of scenario and understanding that High Reliability practices and Lean methodologies have wonderful synergism, makes the answer simply revolve around whether or not your organization should be focusing on improving process, eliminating waste, and creating more value to your patients. We are not aware of a health care organization that should not be doing this type of work. We are aware it is difficult to implement and sustain process improvement work. We built KaiNexus because we believe that having an electronic structure supporting it makes doing this type of work easier.

Absolutely. If your organization already has an effective paper system that is used to collect, evaluate, and implement improvement work, then KaiNexus can be used just to log completed improvement efforts. KaiNexus can be used simply and effectively to log, report, and disseminate the improvement work after implementation.

Our education module is a great primer and may be all that the majority of the staff need. We believe middle and upper management and the executive level will need a far more in-depth understanding of the philosophies and methodologies required to effectively manage improvement. Continuous improvement is as much a culture as a set of tools. As mentioned above, we recommend checking out the Resources section of the web site. Where you can find books, leanblog.org, and information about Rule4 Consulting, our initial consulting partner.

The short answer is that, for a fraction of the price, your organization can start off with a proven and feature-rich program that will only continue to get better – KaiNexus.

A number of organizations have built homegrown systems to aid in kaizen programs. That is actually the origin of KaiNexus, which was originally built internally at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The estimated cost of a basic system with far less functionality can be in the $25,000 to $50,000 range. This development time frame can be from 6 to 12 months. This does not include any future development. There are other organizations that a have pieced together basic systems with tools like SharePoint in an attempt to decrease the cost and the time needed to be up and running. We have learned that the development time was still in the 3 to 6 month range and it was very difficult without having dedicated SharePoint programs on staff.

Also, health care organizations are not set up to develop software. At KaiNexus, we have built the perfect core team of professionals to tackle this problem by putting together a practicing doctor, a health care lean/kaizen thought leader, a business process and data warehouse consultant and a web-based software architect.

We are currently developing a module that will be designed for viewing on large screens that provides information on the status of current improvement efforts. This will act almost like an electronic version of the bulletin boards that some organizations use. KaiNexus, being an electronic solution, has the additional benefit of visibility beyond just the department that has the physical board.

KaiNexus has the ability to enter improvement efforts that are currently being worked on as well as ones that have already been completed. If you have them currently stored in a spreadsheet or database, we can work with you on customized solutions to get legacy data into KaiNexus.

We have built a really awesome import tool that can take a spreadsheet with your users’ info and import it into KaiNexus. We also have a really easy Admin Portal where KaiNexus can be customized to your organization and staff can be quickly added and removed. If, at any time, there is another batch of people to add we will be more than happy to assist you with the import tool.