Judy Worth, a co-author of the Lean Enterprise Institute book Perfecting Patient Journeys, will address the Work Support Strategies State Conference, March 12, 2014, in Washington, DC, on ways states can use lean management principles to improve processes delivering healthcare coverage and other crucial aid programs to low-income families.
Worth, a lean healthcare practitioner, will speak on “10 Things to Know about Business Process Redesign.” Worth will advise attendees:
- Start with a win — for the people doing the work. This is especially important when people are learning the lean methodology.
- Go and see. Supplement spreadsheet data with direct observation and interviews.
- Count, count, count— but count the right things. Measures must show improvements to people doing the work and link back to higher-level business goals.
- Experiment before you implement.
The conference runs March 12-14, 2014, at the Washington Marriott.
Since 2012, the Work Support Strategies initiative has provided six states with grants to test and implement more effective and integrated processes for delivering critical work-support aid, such as healthcare coverage, nutrition benefits, and child care subsidies, to low-income families. The participating states are Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.
The effort seeks to create a win-win for families needing assistance and state’s trying to stretch budget dollars. The Ford Foundation, the project’s lead funder, has committed $21 million over five years.
Bringing Lean Thinking to Healthcare Services
Perfecting Patient Journeys (Lean Enterprise Institute, 2013) is a practical, how-to field guide for self-directed teams improving the quality, cost, and delivery of healthcare processes. The book shows doctors, nurses, and administrators, how to identify and select a problem in the performance of a specific value stream, define a project scope, and create a shared understanding of what’s really happening in the value stream. They also learn to develop a shared vision of an improved future state and how to work together to make that vision a reality.
About Judy Worth
Worth has extensive experience in government, healthcare, and lean management. She led a team of lean practitioners who collaborated on the healthcare improvement book Perfecting Patient Journeys. During her career, she has worked with the Kellogg-funded Computerized Office Record Review Recertification Project for the American Board of Family Medicine and with many federally designated organ and tissue procurement organizations in the U.S. She is a partner in Lean Transformations Group and co-owner of Verble, Worth & Verble. Her practice focuses on organizational development and instructional design.
About the Lean Enterprise Institute
Lean Enterprise Institute Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Cambridge, MA, makes things better through lean research, education, publishing, and conferences. Founded in 1997 by management expert James P. Womack, PhD, LEI supports other lean initiatives such as the Lean Global Network, the Lean Education Academic Network, and the Healthcare Value Network. Visit LEI at https://www.lean.org for more information.