The act of process improvement is to do an analysis, redesign plus the implementation of a process. After which one would continually observe, check and adjust said process. Processes can be initiated for the first time, existing processes can be modified upon or complemented with sub-processes or even eliminated for the ultimate goal of improvement.
“Process improvement programs that do not expressly target competitive advantage are doomed to fail: The appropriateness of process improvement also typically varies across functions. People in manufacturing, finance, and operations, which emphasize consistency, reliability and efficiency, will generally relate easily to continuous improvement” (Power, 2010).
The bottomline for any organization is profit preferably at a consistent rate of increase, this is the determining factor in its choice of product/service, management, processes, activities, the way the organization relates with external environment, competes and so on. Hence, process improvement being instrumental to the growth of profit when implemented makes it vital to businesses with its varying methodologies.
According to Langbeer (2015) the primary roles of a healthcare operations manager include, reduction of cost, higher quality output, improving business processes, improve productivity, reduce variability whilst Lean and Six Sigma methods represent the first and second roles respectively.
Healthcare which is an operations-centric service industry is especially in need of continual improvement of its processes to continuously improve delivery to its consumers. Those at the helm and various levels of management have their work cut out for them, as the onus is on them to know what processes require improvement(s)
Thereby reiterating the importance of process improvement to all managers, as acknowledged by “Richard Aubut, CEO of South Shore Hospital, the leading regional provider of healthcare in southeastern Massachusetts” in his explanation of his organization’s response to healthcare reform and other changes in the healthcare industry, said, “a need to build the capability to deal,” is required , that’s why South Shore has added “continuous improvement” to its cultural pillars. (Power, 2012).
There are various methods available to today’s manager;
- Six Sigma
“method helps companies measure defects or inconsistencies in a process to deliver perfect products and services.” (Williams, 2017) This method focuses on the elimination of defects to ensure quality. This is cost intensive at the beginning, hence will take a while to get back investments, as it is also time-intensive.
For example, Scarless surgery by robots almost completely removes chances of error and level of invasion as opposed to surgery done by human with so many variables. Another is the use of the iPill capsule used for capturing the gastrointestinal tract once swallowed, this is a less invasive/hazardous process of diagnosis than a biopsy. The quality of process is exponentially higher and better.
- Lean
whose focal point is the cutting of cost through the elimination of “waste”. This method can be used by organizations in any industry as it improves efficiency.
Wastes are when processes do not have a value-stream, that is: it is not a value-added activity because customers do not pay for it for example Defects, Overprocessing, Overproduction, Waiting, Transportation, Inventory, Motion and Skill.
For example, a hospital that offers its ambulance to drop-off its out patients at home after can cancel such service to reduce waste as this action does not fall under value-added services or have a value-stream.
Many organizations use both Lean and Six Sigma processes together.
It is worthy to note that Manager can propose process improvement under whichever method, but if the employees do not accept, it is almost impossible to implement. Reasons for this vary from fear of change, employees being stuck on old processes, process improvement may require skills they do not have and so on.
Incorporating self-starters who are committed to your vision in the mix when recruiting helps management when initiating process improvement as those employees get to adapt and thrive faster and are less averse to change.
Conclusively, no matter the method(s) of process improvement selected, to quantify result/outcome must be measurable, be it enhancement of output quality, customer satisfaction, customer retainer-level, heightened productivity, employee skill (s) development, efficiency and rise in revenue.
Reference
Kraft, D. (2011) What's next in healthcare TEDxMaastricht https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhdUivs72zE
Langabeer, J.R. II. & Helton, J. Jones & Bartlett Learning (2015). Health Care Operations Management: A Systems Perspective. 2. Pp 25
Langabeer, J.R. II. & Helton, J. Jones & Bartlett Learning (2015). Health Care Operations Management: A Systems Perspective. 2. Pp 25
Power, B. (2010, October 29th) When Is Process Improvement Strategically Important? Harvard Business Review Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2010/10/i-admit-im-a-process
Power, B. (2012, September 27th) Understanding Fear of Process ImprovementHarvard Business Review Accessed on https://hbr.org/2012/09/understanding-fear-of-process-improvement
Williams, S. (2017, January 3rd) Which Process Improvement Methodology Should You Use? Accessed on https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/process-improvement-methodologies
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