Process Improvement Advice & Best Practices
Taking Healthcare Process Improvement to New Heights: Applying Constraints Management
Below is an excerpt from Chapter 3 of our recently published book, Performance Improvement for Healthcare: Leading Change with Lean, Six Sigma, and Constraints Management
Many hospitals have deployed Lean and/or Six Sigma successfully. As their Lean Six Sigma deployments reach maturity, they have the opportunity to take their performance improvements to new heights by applying Constraints Management (also called Theory of Constraints) principles and tools. However, we recommend a phased approach for a controlled introduction of Constraints Management because major paradigm shifts required for its deployment can become overwhelming. Similar to getting into a hot tub, we do not simply jump in: Entering a hot tub begins by first easing in one’s toes, then slowly the feet, followed by the legs until the entire body is submerged. Hence, introducing some tools and concepts of Constraints Management slowly and deliberately works well.
In addition to Constrains Management, incorporating systematic innovation tools such as Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ), de Bono’s thinking hats, and the Crawford slip method result in superior returns on investment for performance-improvement programs. Major corporations such as Intel, Pratt Whitney, ABB, Siemens, General Electric, and Caterpillar are already using them for breakthrough innovations as part of their performance-improvement programs.
Click here for a free download of Chapter 1 of our book, Performance Improvement for Healthcare: Leading Change with Lean, Six Sigma, and Constraints Management.
