Mark Graban Interviewed About Lean Healthcare
Our VP of Customer Success, Mark Graban, was interviewed recently by Dodge Communications in this story:
"Improving healthcare - there's no instant pudding"
Mark was asked about topics including:
- The impact of the Affordable Care Act on hospitals and on Lean healthcare
- Challenges leading hospitals to adopt Lean methods and principles
- Key attributes of successful Lean hospitals
Mark says, in part:
"It’s... important to have some sort of structured methodology—small, daily continuous improvement is great. And so are rapid improvement events, like a weekend Kaizen event. If an organization already buys into this type of methodology, they’re in good shape.
Technology can drive behavior change. It’s important in a number of ways. Technology makes it easier for people to do things—like report problems. It can encourage people to raise concerns instead of covering up or ignoring issues.
This past week I spent a few days at a hospital system where the people were really smart, dedicated and hard-working. They were helping people get liver and kidney transplants. Very important work and the staff was so passionate. I was there to help teach a systematic methodology. Along with the leadership, staff was embracing approaches to new management styles. I was so energized by seeing people bring ideas and problems forward. There’s never a shortage of good ideas within an organization. If you create a safe environment where people can come forward, they will. Staff will be more excited and engaged and likely to take ownership and actually implement ideas.
People aren’t resistant to change. They’re resistant to top-down directives or things that aren’t really an improvement. People do have ideas, they’re just waiting to be asked."
Read the whole interview here.
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