Healthcare Transformation:
The Convergence of Strategy and Human Spirit

Improving at the Speed of Thought

The difference between “good” organizations and “great” ones lies in the ability to enhance the capabilities of people to optimize material, information, and cost flows to unlock substantial value. By investing in people, refining processes, and fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement, we help healthcare entities achieve high-quality, low-cost care. We diverge from the path of mergers and acquisitions, focusing instead on empowering all levels of leadership to drive innovation and maintain cost control. Our strategy is simple yet profound: build from within to create a seamless, efficient, and joyous healthcare experience for providers and patients alike.

Design Your Healthcare Learning Organization

  • Transformative Leadership Development

    Leadership should never be a solo endeavor. We partner with healthcare leaders to navigate and drive meaningful change. Our approach integrates first principles thinking with innovative leadership techniques, fostering an environment where strategic decision-making and sustainable growth go hand in hand.

  • Performance Improvement

    We empower healthcare professionals at all levels to identify and address challenges through systematic problem-solving. Our method involves coaching for continuous process improvement and rapid experimentation, ensuring that solutions are effective, practical, and tailored to specific needs. This approach leads to a more dynamic and efficient healthcare environment.

  •  Strategic Opportunity Idenfification

    This involves identifying key gaps, experimenting against obstacles in an iterative learning process, and continuously refining processes based on new learnings. It requires a focus on building your own capabilities and optimizing flow to achieve the best outcomes. By creating a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement, healthcare organizations can control costs and achieve long-term success.

  • Implementation and Coaching

    Without capability, the best strategy never leaves the walls of the boardroom. During implementation, we continue to iteratively develop feedback loop structures that support collaboration and continuous improvement. You will know what good problem solving 'looks like' at each level of your organization with collaborative interactions to ensure leaders are developed daily from the front lines to the C-suite.

Contact us

How We Can Help

Our unique tools and methods support comprehensive healthcare transformation efforts.

First Principles Diagnostic Approach: Our unique diagnostic approach across healthcare systems focuses on identifying key opportunities for improvement, including areas like workflow optimization, patient care enhancement, and resource management.

Leadership Development Program: This program is designed to develop health system leaders, enhancing their management capabilities and enabling them to drive significant changes within their organizations.

Innovative Simulation Techniques: Utilizing state-of-the-art simulation tools, we create realistic scenarios for healthcare professionals to practice problem-solving and decision-making in a risk-free environment.

Customized Management Platforms: Our management platforms are tailored to the unique needs of healthcare organizations, ensuring that they can effectively manage large-scale transformation programs and track their progress.

Examples of our work

Emergency Department Redesign

At a mid-sized East Coast hospital facing emergency department flow challenges, we utilized lean design principles and the 3P (Production Preparation Process) methodology to overhaul operations. Focusing on metrics like 'door to first med on board' and prioritizing the principle 'the first story is the best story,' we reshaped patient flow. This approach not only virtually eliminated the waiting room but also ensured that 95% of patients received treatment within 20 minutes. Additionally, our reconfigured flow led to a 25% reduction in psychological admissions and virtually eliminated instances of patients leaving without being seen (LWOBS).

Lean Healthcare Transformation

In a transformative initiative featured in (October 2017) issue of AME Target Magazine (page 20), Lean.org, and TheLeanThinker.com, we pioneered "executive rounding" with healthcare leaders in a regional system. This process had executives regularly engage with front-line staff, gauging operational health and uncovering areas for improvement. This direct interaction cultivated an in-depth understanding of daily challenges, promoting a culture rich in continuous improvement and transparent communication. The outcome was remarkable: boosted staff morale, enhanced operational efficiency, and elevated patient satisfaction, showcasing the profound influence of active executive involvement in healthcare environments.

Rapid Problem Solving in Healthcare

In a collaborative project with Steven Spear, we implemented the "See to Solve" initiative at a major healthcare system. This innovative mobile app allowed frontline staff to quickly report and address operational issues, enabling caregivers to "stop the line" when needed, but in a manner adapted for healthcare. This shift significantly altered the organizational culture, particularly between ED physicians and Hospitalists, fostering a collaborative environment focused on data-driven problem-solving. Our work across various departments dramatically improved response times and operational efficiency.

EHR Implementation and Improvements

The selection and software installation are just initial phases of a successful EHR implementation. Organizations lacking in robust problem-solving capabilities at all levels often face dependency on prolonged on-site support, frustrated staff, cost overruns, and even risks to patient safety. In one of our key projects, we identified and resolved a critical miscommunication between EHR modules, which was leading to medication errors and the potential risk of patient double dosing. Our collaborative efforts with the EHR provider not only rectified this serious issue, ensuring patient safety, but also highlighted the need for persistent problem-solving and ongoing training post-implementation. This work underlines our commitment to thorough and efficient integrations in healthcare systems.

Featured Insights

Healthcare Transformation: Revolutionize Your Healthcare Organization with First Principles Thinking

November 11, 2023 -  The difference between “good” organizations and “great” ones lies in the ability to enhance the capabilities of people to optimize material, information, and cost flows to unlock substantial value. By investing in people …

Your Partner in Healthcare Transformation

When establishing a learning organization, a common challenge faced by leaders/mentors/coaches is maintaining the motivation of the learner to enthusiastically continue the transformational process. We partner and challenge organizational leaders to understand coaching with the intent of building, rather than diminishing, the motivation of the learner by building on understanding of the fundamental psychological needs inherent in all people.

Together, we will also explore common failure modes as to how teachers and coaches lose the interest of students over time, discuss countermeasures to these obstacles, and practice proven engagement techniques.