IIE Blogs

Culture is, at least in my little world, more commonly associated more with what cannot be done rather than what can. It refers to what people will refuse to do rather than what they’ll be willing to try.

How does one create ownership, or even merely accountability, for issues like patient safety, throughput, cost, or productivity, in a huge system like a hospital? If an employee only "touches" a small piece of the larger puzzle, how does that employ "own" the entire system?

New space breaks old process. It’s a rule as real as gravity, especially in healthcare. If only due to the distances walked, new technologies implemented, and locations of important supplies and equipment, processes invariably change in a new physical environment.

We need to stop trying to adopt everything from somewhere else, stop being so dogmatic about our "favorite flavor," and develop set of solutions to healthcare's very special problems!

The merging of management engineering with quality improvement is a logical and natural blend. Quality comes from perfected processes - and a focus on quality generates the need for improved operations. 

Pierce Story takes a break from discussing healthcare in order to organize the process that can sometimes be the Christmas holiday.

The Society for Health Systems has agreed to form a Public Policy Education Committee, through which legislators and public officials at the local, state and federal levels might become educated on the resources and impacts we have to offer.

Traveling, as I often do, gives me the opportunity to learn from service stumbles in the travel industry and relate them to my own business. 

The passion to change the system surpasses the willingness to tackle its real problems. Though there are plenty of flaws in the current system, politics will prevent a better solution from being developed.

Every cost is being analyzed these days as more and more congressional leaders, taxpayers and providers seek to squeeze cost out of the health care system.