Building a Kaizen work culture at healthcare facilities

Due to President Barack Obama's Affordable Healthcare for America Act and the aging demographic of baby boomers, hospitals and clinics are now dealing with more patients than ever before. This has put their operations to the test, challenging every employee to collaborate more effectively in order to cope with the influx of people seeking care.

For staff at many healthcare organizations, the sheer amount of work demanded from them is enough to create a stressful and difficult work environment. As a result, many facilities are turning to Kaizen to help create a more supportive and productive workplace where employees feel they are valued and active parts of the company.

So how can healthcare organizations create a Kaizen work culture? A whitepaper from the Commonwealth Fund offers some advice.

Creating a culture of excellence

The most efficient hospitals are the ones with a culture of excellence. Managers at these healthcare facilities believe that excellence stems from motivated, engaged personnel. To elevate employees in this way, leaders have implemented meaningful engagement activities that make everyone who works at a company feel involved.

Take, for example, the North Mississippi Medical Center (NMMC). Leaders at the facility ask employees to submit at least two improvement ideas per year, which are then sent upward through the chain of command straight to the organization's decision makers. NMMC management doesn't just sit on these ideas – approximately two out of every five submissions from 2010 were approved and meaningfully implemented.

Not only do employees see their ideas put into action and feel as if they actually contributed to the company, they are also rewarded for their contributions. Employees who submit approved ideas are given “points” that can be redeemed for gifts. As a result of the initiative, NMMC has won the prestigious Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award, which counts staff empowerment as a metric of success.

NMMC isn't the only healthcare facility stressing staff empowerment. St. Vincent, a hospital based out of Worcester, Massachusetts, takes a “one team, many hands” approach to doing business, enabling staff to help shape the direction of the organization. Frequent council meetings are held by leaders and are open to staff throughout St. Vincent. Employees can chime in with solutions to many current problems.

As a result of these council meetings, St. Vincent has altered the budgeting of $1.5 million to reduce patient falls.

Applying these concepts to your organization

NMMC and St. Vincent are only two of the many hospitals and healthcare organizations that have integrated Kaizen to improve their work culture. While each company is different and what works for another firm may not work for yours, you could easily extrapolate and integrate the concepts behind others' practices.

For instance, a business could easily collect improvement ideas from key staff and then enact some sort of incentive program for ideas that get used. You don't have to offer a huge reward – no vacation getaways or anything that extreme – but something simple like a gift card to a nearby restaurant should suffice.

Similarly, companies should be holding process improvement meetings regularly, if they aren't already. Rather than simply briefing employees on changes, ask for their suggestions. Even if their feedback can't be directly implemented, work with suggested ideas and tease out what is useful about them.

The key is showing your employees that they are an important part of your company. Gather their feedback and involve them throughout your decision-making processes.