In My Global Lean Healthcare Travels, These 21 Things Are Pretty Universal

Over the past 12 years, I’ve visited and/or coached hospitals in Canada, England, The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Japan, China, and Thailand.

These are very different countries in their national cultures, of course. Their high-level, big-picture healthcare systems are designed differently (including the level of universal coverage, or lack thereof, and who pays).

But, when you look at the details of how the work is done… how healthcare is delivered… how people manage… things are more the same than they are different. In England, they said, “Same problems, different accent.”

What’s pretty universal about healthcare in different countries?

People working in healthcare are well trained in their specialty or function and they’re very smart.

They are in their line of work for reasons other than just money. They’re very passionate about patient care.

But, their training and knowledge of the work is VERY silo-ed.

Nobody understands the big picture and the way the system works — what do the upstream and downstream functions and departments do?

(An analogy would be a quarterback knowing how to throw a perfect spiral, but not knowing how to play football on a team.)

There’s usually very poor teamwork and coordination across departments (and this isn’t the fault of individuals, it’s the way the system is structured).

People quite often say they too busy to improve, and sometimes they say they are too busy to learn.

Some people will readily admit there are problems or opportunities for improvement… and some say, quite literally, “We have no problems here.”

Sometimes people are unaware of problems and opportunities and sometimes they don’t want to admit that they exist (and this might not be their fault as individuals, either).

People aren’t taught how to study work… they aren’t taught how to observe flow and work… or how to map processes (yet alone value streams). Again, this isn’t their fault.

Healthcare professionals aren’t taught the basics of operations management, queuing theory, inventory management, or other helpful disciplines. They haven’t been taught much about scheduling approaches and they think trying to run at 100% utilization is fine (read my post about this). Not their fault.

Highly educated professionals aren’t taught how to train others in their professional skills using effective, proven methods like Training Within Industry (TWI).

People generally aren’t taught how to manage or how to lead. They’re expected to figure it out. Some dedicate themselves to the craft of management and they figure it out… many don’t. Leaders aren’t being coached or mentored in how to lead effectively.

Even though there might be statements of mission, vision, and values posted on the wall, it doesn’t mean the culture really lines up with that on a daily basis.

A common problem statement is that patients are waiting too long in all of the different ways and places they could wait. That’s not the fault of the individuals. It’s not people being lazy or uncaring… it’s system design issues.

Flow problems are not caused by a lack of effort — it’s usually due to batching, silos, and a lack of coordination across value streams.

Did I mention that people are really smart and caring… and hard working?

Hospitals always have trouble finding wheelchairs and getting patients transported. But these are fixable problems.

People often think “the way it’s always been” is “the way it has to be.” That’s not their fault, either.

People will participate in root cause analysis… these problem-solving methods work just as well in different settings.

When you give healthcare professionals time, even just a few days, to study their work and the system… to discover the current state as a team, they make AMAZING discoveries and gain a lot of insights. They’ve generally never had the time to do that… again, not their fault.

When taught some basic Lean methods and mindsets, it can really light a spark in people… it shows them improvement is possible and things don’t have to be the way they are… things can get better.

These are not “American healthcare challenges” — they are, it seems, “healthcare challenges.”

Yes, there are cultural differences in various countries, such as the extent to which people defer to those who are older or who have more seniority. But even with that variation, things seem more similar than they are different.

That gives me hope that we can learn from each other, across national boundaries. Even with our differences, we can find common solutions. That said, we can’t just blindly copy from each other, either.

This is an edited version of a post that originally appeared on LeanBlog.org.

Learn more about Mark’s latest book, Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More.