VSM (Value Stream Mapping) is a tried-and-true tool. VSM is very useful in bringing about beneficial organizational changes,
generating efficiency, and producing system-wide benefits in terms of cost, quality, and flexibility because it is well suited for a wide range of industries and processes.
In other words, it aids in waste reduction.
But VSM must be used correctly, just like any other tool.
That entails avoiding the frequent mistakes that render the mapping process useless. Let's first define a value stream,
however. It entails all the tasks necessary to deliver a product from "raw materials" into the hands of the customer or to serve a particular clientele.
In his book Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance,
Michael Porter was among the first people to discuss value chains and value streams.
He includes primary activities, like inbound logistics, and supporting activities, like procurement, in his value stream definition.
Porter links obtaining a competitive edge to these actions.
Let's imagine that the product is, for instance, a patient in a doctor's office.
The observer should stay with the patient after the doctor has finished his examination rather than the nurse updating the patient's chart.
The work done on the control section, which ceased when the patient went home, is not being mapped if the observer accompanies the nurse.
Lean Thinking can be used to streamline hospital patient experiences.
Regarding hospital patient experiences and services
The first step in the patient's journey in the hospital is establishing a unit with lean Thinking to maximize value and minimize Waste.
The strategic management team must communicate the lean objectives frequently with the line staff.
This will bring in the sense of belonging and lessen anxiety over job losses.
It must convey the clear and compelling idea that a person alone can make service differentiators.
The next phase of the process should begin with determining the crucial quality criteria for their clients, which should include but not be limited to,
- Accuracy in processing and expected financial accuracy
- Turnaround time expectations
- Percentages of rework
To create roadmaps, enterprises must evaluate where they stand concerning these criteria.
This entails mapping the value stream of their processes, which will detail the steps necessary to get the desired result for the client.
Since this process is governed by federal law, healthcare organizations must evaluate its effectiveness to separate value-added and non-value-added processes.
Friction in the system will undoubtedly result from this imbalance. Processes must be categorized as,
- Essential, recurrent procedures
- Fundamental, non-repeatable processes
- Support and consistent procedures
- Support and one-off procedures
- Describe the strategy for implementing a successful lean program.
Creating a program charter is the first step in implementing and institutionalizing a lean program. Programs are used to:
- Using an integrated quality assurance framework to improve quality and eliminate waste.
It entails implementing an integrated quality framework for training.
This involves a combination of statistical tools and techniques that lead to identifying and isolating process flaws and wastes. Numerous statistical methods are used to conduct:
- Pareto analysis: locating the essential few
- Describe corrective and preventative measures (CAPA)
- 5 Why Research and
- Trend Analysis of Time
This QA framework aids in completing the process within the parameters of control.
Nevertheless, organizations must understand that statistical techniques' purpose is to isolate and identify outliers.
But because there are so many variances in billing and coding procedures, there needs to be highly active involvement from the training function if the quality is to be raised.
- Enhance Quality and Reduce Waste using Technology
Create tools for claims scrubbing on top of claims data to enable automatic detection of more frequent and common problems.
As a result, the process will go faster and require less rework. For instance, a claim for a male insured with a diagnosis code for gynecology is erroneous,
and the system may identify this right once rather than for it to go through various stages and ultimately be refused payment.
This prevents many upfront payment rejections. Therefore, an effective lean program will use the operations and IT team's experience to create a solution.
Consequently, the medical team must comprehend how insurance companies' adjudication processes function to make up-front claim scrubbers and pre-modifications. - Reduce processing costs.
The operations unit must perform an extensive time trend analysis of operational data.
Incoming data volume, capacity utilization levels, throughputs, TAT compliance, etc. shall be included.
Organizations need to make plans for managing processes with optimal staff utilization levels to prevent the over allocation of workers to operations.
With a good incentive and compensation scheme, this could be achieved. This strategy decreases process overheads.
Organizations must realize that both overproduction and underproduction are undesirable.
Not a new concept, lean Thinking. However, the healthcare industry's dynamics are constantly shifting, necessitating ongoing innovation on the part of the businesses to excel on the customer satisfaction index. Organizations must continuously ask themselves, "Why am I doing it this way, and am I doing it right?" if they want to innovate.
Lean Thinking makes it easier for businesses to ask these essential questions than previously!
Reference:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
- https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/qsir-value-stream-mapping.pdf
- https://www.lean.org/