Engaging Physician in Lean Transformation

Immersed as I am now in Lean literature and methodology, it is sometimes hard to recall my first reactions as a physician to the words Standardization and Compliance. I am reminded, however, of my negative reflexes when I see the responses of physicians who attend Lean educational sessions. Those who are following along contentedly through Value Stream Mapping and A3s suddenly throw up walls of defensiveness when they hear Standardization and Compliance.

The response of Quality Assurance staff and facilitators often is to become frustrated and critical of us physicians for being too conservative and wedded to our autonomy. They may proceed with improvement efforts without physician participation. I'd like to explore the physician context and in so doing, suggest means for introducing Standardization and Compliance in ways that physicians can accept because physician engagement is critical to the success of the majority of Lean Healthcare transformations.

Lean has only been aggressively adapted to the healthcare market for about a decade. We promoters understand it to be an integrated approach to improving processes and systems using the innovations of all of the workers who touch the process, top to bottom and bottom to top. Prior to Lean, quality initiatives came strictly from the top and often from outside the hospital walls. Regulatory agencies developed and imposed "standards" and only negative indicators of poor outcomes such as infection rates, low APGAR scores and returns to OR without the input of those who provided the care.

Enforcement of "standards" or compliance was given to the Quality Control Officer (intimidating language) whose job it was to comb through charts finding the omissions, failures and faults in order to display them for the Medical Staff for review and report to the Board. Such statistical methods applied to very small sample sizes and minimally meaningful indicators created anger and rejection of the process among medical staff. For example, a physician who had saved a life by diagnosing a post-operative bleed, who took the patient back to the OR was "dinged" and judged as culpable by the indicators. Many of these practices continue today. If an error is caught in a non-Lean regulatory environment, what are the incentives to identify and disclose it if you are going to be penalized?

Physicians work with many sharply competing incentives. Reduce costs, see more patients, make no errors, document to satisfy even the harshest malpractice lawyer, be compassionate, spend more time with all patients, screen for seatbelt or tobacco use, complete required authorizations for HMO's, coordinate care with all providers, and be prepared to respond to any emergencies. We will resist Standards if they feel like another burdensome injunction to "remember to do" one more thing that is going to be measured.

On being introduced to Lean, physicians are likely to think of it is a means of meeting current reporting requirements while we know it can have much greater impact. I saw a recent example at Scotland Memorial Hospital in Laurinburg. Surgeons began using Lean to investigate why they had deficiencies in meeting SCIPS DVT prophylaxis indicators and why orders for heparin were omitted. When they went on a Gemba walk they discovered the many wastes in their whole pre-operative admission process. They discovered how Lean methodology could be used to simplify, not burden their practices. They discovered how standardization is about having resources, routines and safeguards in place that protect their practice of medicine. Simple examples of standards and routines include having laboratory results reported in an accurate and timely manner, for having outside records available prior to consults, for medication refills ready for signing after checking for allergies, for check lists for pre surgical authorizations and registrations. These examples and others can demonstrate how standardized work can avoid errors, redundancy, waiting, and rework while simplifying medical practice but not constraining it.

To engage physicians, emphasize that Lean Methodology is devoted to establishing processes throughout an organization that reliably support the physician’s efforts. Demonstrate how standardization links the physicians' work to those who come before and after in the sequence. Compliance with standard work is a means of confidently controlling the mundane work and focusing the physician's efforts on the exceptional and unusual cases. Physicians will see that the processes associated with standard work assist them to provide individualized care and responsiveness to unpredictable need.

For assurance, we should emphasize what Lean is not - it is not a means of controlling, policing or punishing. It is not a set of Do's to remember. It is not a denial of individual patient or physician needs. It is not strictly an efficiency tool. And it is not the enemy of innovation. Atul Gawande, MD, in his outstanding book "Better" examines several stories of clinics and practitioners whose outstanding outcomes are many percentage points above the expected. He challenges us to look at that variability for the sources of true excellence. Compliance with standards by everyone in the workflow is not going to eliminate all variability or stifle innovation but it will provide an unprecedented level of support and stability to highly competent physicians who will be able to focus on excellence.

We physicians are not necessarily resistant or obstructionist when it comes to Lean or quality improvement efforts. The Lean transformations of Virginia Mason and Theda Care were led by physicians. Engaging physicians is critical for success in Lean Healthcare. As a facilitator, sensei or change agent, success will be when you find the ways to align the Lean principles with the physicians' goals - they are not incompatible. The true transformation in the medical culture will be achieved when this alignment results in trust and cooperation among all providers of patients' care.