Ever use a wrench as a hammer? Do you use a pen for a letter opener and your cup as a paper weight? Each of these examples probably gets the job done, however they don’t do it as efficiently as the right tool for the right job. Everyday people use what they have at hand to do something for which it was not originally intended.

The same is true in Lean Healthcare. Ever implement 5S in an area to improve OR Room Turn Around Time (TAT)? Ever do a Kaizen event on your budget process? How about using Value Stream Mapping to improve your infection rates? All of these examples “will get the job done”. But, are they the best tool for the job? Will they make the desired improvement as efficiently as possible?

As organizations implement Lean Healthcare, they begin to develop a Lean Healthcare tool box. After the first two years they think they have enough tools to implement Lean within an organization. They have their A3’s, 5S, Standardized Work, Kaizen events, Visual Controls and Value Stream Mapping. They will seek continuous improvement through the use of these tools and strive for zero waste throughout the organization.

However, these tools are just the basics. The rate of improvement will begin to decrease. The basic Lean tools can only take you so far at a desired pace. At some point management will say, “We aren’t keeping up with our competition.” What has happened is that the competition has started using the same tools you have. But, they may have found an extra tool that you don’t have.

Not only should you seek continuous improvement in your organization, but you should seek continuous improvement of your Lean tool box. You need to get more tools. Have you ever heard of Strategic Forecasting, Voice of the Customer, Cost of Poor Quality, Productivity Analysis, Supply Chain Order Replenishment, Design of Experiments, Statistical Quality Control, Dynamic Planning, Project Management, Hoshin Planning, Pre-Control Charts, Change Management, Linear Programming, Present Value Analysis, Balanced Score Cards, Zero Waste Process Design or Total Improvement Groups? These are all more tools of Lean Healthcare. Are they in your tool box?

David Pickens is the author of this week’s article. David is an HPP Lean Healthcare facilitator, consultant, trainer, and certified lean six-sigma Master Black Belt. Dave has a B.A in Statistics and M.B.A., and is currently working on his DBA.  Dave has worked with HPP healthcare clients throughout the USA by assisting them with their Lean transformations.  Dave has years of industry experience from his time in the automotive and consumer goods industry, including time with Panasonic, Allied Signal and BOSCH. He has trained with Matsushita in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore in Japanese Manufacturing Management.