| Mindfulness is all about paying attention. | | | | patient to widget status, TPS restores the |
| It's amazing what can be accomplished when | | | | patient as the primary focus. How refreshing! |
| mindfulness is applied to systems that need | | | | |
| all the attention they can get. If there's an | | | | There's a common misconception that people do |
| industry that needs some CPR and TLC, it's | | | | not like change. I happen to love rearranging |
| healthcare. | | | | rooms every season. However, I'd probably get |
| | | | a little cranky if I walked into my house and |
| Cindy Jimmerson is a 30-year trauma nurse who | | | | found that someone else had moved all the |
| is passionate about streamlining healthcare | | | | furniture. |
| processes. Her consulting company, Lean | | | | |
| HealthCare West, is blasting through | | | | The real story is that people do not like |
| always-done-it-that-way thinking to reduce | | | | change that is imposed upon them, but they |
| waiting time for patients, eliminate staff | | | | appreciate being part of the solution. |
| errors, and save hospitals and patients | | | | Employees using TPS love having the |
| millions of dollars. | | | | opportunity to creatively explore options |
| | | | that allow them to perform their work with |
| She is the Queen of Lean in hospitals, and | | | | greater efficiency. And why not? It helps |
| she's on a mission to improve the health of | | | | them reconnect to the best parts of their |
| our country's largest industry--$1.76 | | | | job. |
| trillion in 2002, and soon to explode as the | | | | |
| baby-boomers hit their sixties. | | | | Toyota walks its talk. It would be one thing |
| | | | if the company had a policy of being "open to |
| When it comes to looking for powerful tools | | | | suggestions" while rarely making any changes. |
| for transforming processes, we're fortunate | | | | But Toyota consistently acts on its |
| to have a proven model that continues to | | | | employees' recommendations. In fact, the most |
| outperform peers around the world. The Toyota | | | | recent figures indicate that the company |
| Production System was originally developed by | | | | implemented 99% of its yearly total of over |
| an American, W. Edwards Deming, who couldn't | | | | 700,000 employee ideas! |
| get anyone in the U.S. to pay attention to | | | | |
| his approach. The Japanese listened and | | | | That same emphasis on valuing the knowledge |
| learned. Today, TPS continues to propel | | | | and experience of employees and trusting them |
| industries toward greater productivity, less | | | | to develop better processes is the key to |
| waste, improved quality, and increased | | | | tackling healthcare's estimated waste--a |
| workplace appreciation. | | | | whopping 50%. |
| | | | |
| Cindy's firm takes TPS straight to the ER and | | | | TPS is mindfulness in action--paying |
| beyond. Now, you might think that a model | | | | attention to extra steps, inconvenient |
| focusing on getting product moved through the | | | | sequences, and indirect communication. The |
| assembly line more efficiently is completely | | | | best part? Anyone can do it. |
| inappropriate for handling human patients. | | | | |
| You would be dead wrong. | | | | Doctors, nurses and other hospital workers |
| | | | are hard-working, compassionate people who |
| TPS focuses on adding value to what matters | | | | are committed to providing their patients |
| most--in this case, caring for patients. In | | | | with top-notch care. Broken systems get in |
| doing so, it takes a hard look at every step | | | | the way. Mindful management can repair those |
| taken which results in less contact with | | | | systems, and in the process, everyone wins. |
| those who need care. The customer is king, | | | | |
| and in healthcare, the customer is the | | | | Mindfulness at work? It works. |
| patient. Instead of developing ways to make | | | | |
| hospitals more profitable by relegating the | | | | Talk to your doctor about getting lean. |