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OPS Reaches Out to Maryland Hospitals

Friday, May 22, 2020

Dear Colleagues,

Unprecedented challenges present exceptional opportunities.

Healthcare is emerging from the chaos of the pandemic and is starting to settle into a new operational cadence. Part of that new rhythm should be to identify the gaps and deficiencies that were exposed during the response. Once this happens, hospitals will have a significant opportunity for meaningful change. These opportunities can be found in process improvement.

New processes have been created and well-established processes have been suspended. This is the time to evaluate these critical processes to determine not if, but when and how they can be enhanced.

Lean, which is based on a framework of scientifically proven methodologies and tools, can help guide you through these assessments. Some organizations may have Lean trained staff, but they are probably overwhelmed. Organizations that do not have Lean expertise may be struggling a little more with the rapidity of the changing environment and response requirements.

In either case, Operational Performance Solutions can help. Our highly experienced consultants are willing and able to assist your teams in evaluating those established processes that could be better, planning new formal processes, and helping your leadership team formulate short, intermediate, and long-term strategies.

It is well known that Lean organizations demonstrate improvements in quality, improvements in patient and staff satisfaction and a reduction in expense and waste. They are better positioned to be nimble and adapt when circumstances and requirements change. Organizations with a Lean foundation were able to pivot more quickly and manage the ambiguities of COVID-19 with more confidence.

Areas of hospital operations that have benefitted from Lean improvement activities include but are not limited to revenue cycle, lab testing, scheduling, supply chain, patient flow, sterile processing, pharmacy, and patient care. In this era of COVID-19, expense reduction achieved by attaining operational excellence is a definite benefit. Lean also aligns with your patient safety initiatives as well as the strategies that keep you on the road to high reliability.
The Lean approach to continuous improvement will also support your hard-working staff, offering them the chance to impact their workflow and work place by engaging in the problem analysis. They will appreciate the opportunity to regain some control. You can leverage this aspect of Lean, and at the same time facilitate the staff's emotional and psychological recovery. Validating the need to improve key processes that might not have worked well during the COVID-19 response will build trust between administration and the staff while improving morale and mitigating burnout. Respecting the staff's expertise and sacrifice via this type of activity will be invaluable.

Please keep in mind that we are a regionally based national company, so we are committed to helping Maryland hospitals succeed. If you would like to obtain more information or speak with us about how we can assist, please contact us at 410-871-0995 or visit our webpage www.opsinc.com

Thank you to you and your team for their service, and for everything you have done and continue to do for our communities.

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