As healthcare organizations move to adopt electronic medical records, the principles of Lean will serve them well. Information and information systems are a vital component of Lean healthcare. Poor data quality and fragmented information systems not only delay patient care, but in some cases impact patient safety. Listen to my interview with Mike Orzen, co-founder of Steady Improvement (www.steadyimprovement.com)  faculty member at the Lean Enterprise Institute (www.lean.org) , and co-author of the book Lean IT “Enabling and Sustaining Your Lean Transformation”, where we discussed Lean IT and it’s application to healthcare.

Interview with Mike Orzen – Lean IT and Healthcare Improvement

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According to Dr. Mikel J. Harry, Co-Creator of Six Sigma and currently the COB of The Great Discovery, LLC, Six Sigma will be called upon over the next decade to deliver many types of value-centric solutions for a wide array of humanitarium, environmental and business problems. Furthermore, the traditional ways and means of using Six Sigma are not capable of delivering the necessary substantial improvements.

Listen to my interview with Mikel as he introduces the The Great Discovery, a proven way of thinking that will empower you to better innovate and execute higher quality solutions in less time with superior results – in your work, personal and home life.

The 4th Generation of Six Sigma – The Great Discovery

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Many organizations promote their support of, and adherance to, Deming’s 14 Points of Management, PDSA, and Profound Knowledge. The question of the day, is why do so many shy away from his discussion on the 7 Deadly Diseases. Join me for a very frank discussion with my guest Mike Carnell, president and founder of CS International, a full-service Six Sigma and Lean Enterprise provider known in the industry for their ability to implement high-impact improvement initiatives that deliver benchmark results.

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During his appearance on my radio program Quality Conversations, friend and long time Six Sigma practitioner and consultant Mike Carnell, spoke of the need to create and sustain a Design Team throughout the Six Sigma deployment initiative.  As he described it, the Design Team, or what I have sometimes heard called the Business Guidance Team, creates the plan for the deployment, takes it from being an individuals plan to that of the organization, and ensures that the business remains truly on course.

Much like the GPS that we used on our way to Virginia in March for the National Home School High School  Boys Basketball Tournament, (we finished third and this link shows the consolation game) the Design Team helps maintains the best course to take to the organizations desired destination.  During the 970 mile and 14 hour trip from Iowa to Virginia, we occasionally veered off the predetermined path but once the issue was resolved (3 adult males and 4 teenaged boys…you can figure it out) we’d strap ourselves back into the vehicle, hit the ignition, check the GPS, and be redirected back to the correct path.

Certain organizational and economical issues may cause us to get off course during our continuous improvement deployment efforts but by checking back with the Design Team we can right ourselves and get back on the road to our desired destination…breakthrough results. I’d like to hear from you. Do you have such a team and if so, what’s its role? How does it operate?

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