From Usually to Always

Imagine you are on a commercial flight from Baltimore to Chicago. The co-pilot comes out of the cockpit and you engage him or her in a conversation. You ask the co-pilot to tell you about the process for determining which runway to land on and the co-pilot says: “We usually get our instructions for the landing from the air traffic controller, but sometimes the captain likes to bypass the system and we pick the runway ourselves…it’s usually faster.” What would you think? Ok, I know that this is a ridiculous example of an unreliable system (reliability= what should happen happens and what should not happen, doesn’t). But you get the point.

Healthcare can be as high-risk as commercial aviation. It wasn’t too long ago that everything in healthcare was done the way that the most powerful person in the decision wanted it done that day. We are in a much better place today. As an example, we have nearly eliminated catheter-associated urinary tract infections by standardizing the process, according to the evidence of what works best, how a catheter is put in, how it is maintained, and when it comes out. There are some things in healthcare that shouldn’t be standardized because there is no one best way or there is no evidence as to what works best. Patients are not all the same and not everyone will benefit from the same therapy. But to leave time to make these more difficult decisions, we should standardize what we can.

On Lean Daily Management Rounds, we are often asking what is our standard work. When we get an answer that starts: “Well, usually…”, we know that we have not created standard work, people don’t know that we have created it, we have not properly enrolled them in the standard work, or we are not holding them accountable.

What examples do you have of what should be moved to standard work? Please let me know below. Let’s move more things from usually to always!

GBMC Wins Award for Diversity
I am proud to announce that the GBMC Healthcare System was a recipient of this year's Rouse Excellence in Diversity Award. The James W. Rouse Diversity Award is presented annually by the Chesapeake Human Resources Association (CHRA) to a local organization which best exemplifies an attitude and environment of acceptance and inclusion. James Rouse was dedicated to diversity and CHRA's Rouse Diversity Award was established to honor his memory and vision of building a better way to live and work through diversity, which was embodied in his many nationally known urban redevelopment programs.

At GBMC, we know the importance of being inclusive and welcoming everyone to join our family. We were selected for the award because of our Celebration and Education Initiative, which provides employees with experiences and resources that incorporate celebrating diverse cultures and learning about diversity and inclusion. Components of this initiative include: monthly cultural celebrations, a calendar of celebrations and events, an annual corporate competency, orientation presentations, and other learning and development initiatives promoting a diverse workplace.

I want to congratulate GBMC’s Diversity & Inclusion Council and our Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Jennifer Maraña, Ph.D., for their leadership and for receiving this award.

Decentralized Parking Project Update 
What’s Completed?
The utility rough-ins, concrete islands, and road work have been completed at the South Chapman lot(s), F-Lot/Valet lot, Tulip (PPN) Garage, Lily (ED) Garage, and Rose lot. Most of the new parking control equipment has been set at these locations but will remain inactive until all the parking areas are completed.

What’s in Progress?
Daffodil (PPW) Garage is currently closed for the parking infrastructure installation and is scheduled to be re-opened on Tuesday, June 12th. The installation of the equipment at the parking areas as well as the pay-on-foot stations inside of the buildings will continue throughout the month of June.

What’s Next?
Iris (PPE) Garage will be closing on Wednesday, June 13th for approximately 3 weeks to complete the utility rough-ins, concrete islands, widening of the entrance/exit, and installation of the equipment. As equipment gets placed throughout campus, work is also completed to connect the equipment to the hospital’s electrical, network, and security systems and test it for proper operation.