Let’s Stop Doing Some Things

On a bad day, it appears that some people think that improvement always requires more steps. If we didn’t ask the nurse to add this click or that phone call then we couldn’t have possibly made it better. GBMC has phenomenal people who work very hard and are very well intentioned, but leaders need to be sure that the standard work is all necessary to help us get to our vision. If not, we will just overwhelm and frustrate our people.

So this week, when I learned of some tasks that we have not eliminated, like faxing reports to people who are already getting them through our new electronic medical record, I realized that we still have work to do in driving waste out of our system.

I watched the Art of Nursing television show this week. What a marvelous tribute to our nurses and their commitment to our patients! As I heard of all the things that our nurses were doing that really do help our patients, I realized that it is my job to make sure that we unburden them of tasks that don’t really help.



The Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) National Forum

Some members of the GBMC Team attended the IHI National Forum this week. Lisa Griffee and Caroline Candiello presented some of our work in Lean Daily Management and in “breaking rules” that don’t really add value to our patients and their families. It made me very proud of all that we have done to improve care and move towards our vision. All of our attendees, including myself, learned a lot from other organizations as well.