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