Going Back to What Works: Quality and Productivity

Going Back to What Works: Productivity & Quality
By Michael O’Rourke


With the major changes in our country’s economy and that of the world in the last 12 months, and the corresponding drop in your 401K, you may wonder “What really happened?” We may never understand nor do we have the time to do so. The world economy and the Unites States economy are so intertwined that there were no doubt a multitude of factors that led us to where we are today – inflated home prices, greedy investors, poor lending policy, oil prices & supply, the sinking value of the dollar and on and on.

Some have said this is the worst economic time since the great depression. If that is even partially true, then what can we learn from history to get us out of this economic mess once again? As a nation, as a community and as an individual, the answer is the same:
Get back to the basics of Productivity and Quality. After the Great Depression and during World War II our country was called on to increase productivity and the military contracts required increased quality. Inspection standards were put in place for goods being produced. Bullets made in California had to be the same as bullets made in Minnesota and so on with every item purchased by the military so all parts and pieces worked together no matter where they were made. American workers responded and put in the effort and focus required to produce the goods and the arms to ‘save the world” from the Nazis.

After WWII , while the U.S. went back to business as usual, Japan welcomed W. Edwards Deming’s advice on not just inspecting the quality of the final output of their factories but on improving all organizational processes through the people involved. He introduced Quality as a culture. ‘Made in Japan’ went from being a statement on cheap trinkets to a stamp of quality on the world’s best electronics and automobiles. Japan became an economic powerhouse. The U.S. finally paid attention starting in the 1970’s and saw increased quality of goods, increased productivity and many years of economic prosperity.

Today we need to again focus ourselves and our companies on both productivity – getting more accomplished in the same amount of time, and quality – getting it done right the first time with less cost and more value. Employees who are not being truly productive and doing quality work have been cut or will be cut if the economy gets worse. The best employees are retained and will be expected to work smarter to provide goods and services so the business can stay in business.

As a member of the American Society for Quality I am able to learn and stay sharp on areas of quality in Healthcare, Government, Education, Service and Manufacturing. Their website www.ASQ.org is a great free resource for non-members and members alike. One can learn about Leadership, Change Management, Teams, and Employee Empowerment and Involvement.

Now is a great time to create a safety net around ourselves and our families by protecting our own position in the workforce. We must be the best at what we do. A solid commitment to being more productive with an eye on the quality of our own work is where we must start. After seeing our own improvements we can share these concepts of productivity and quality with our colleagues and those whom we manage.

Michael O’Rourke is an independent Healthcare IT Analyst with his company Secure Business Group Inc. Mr. O’Rourke is also a member of the Association of Productivity Specialists and the American Society for Quality.
He can be reached via email at: Michael-ORourke@comcast.net.

Health Care Resources - Useful Websites I

Over the years, we've come across a wealth of useful websites for those working in Healthcare. Covering Health Policy, Performance Improvement, Marketing, Operations Management, Law and Human Resources. This series is intended to provide a review of websites and will be amended from time to time. We hope you enjoy!

Doing Mach Speed in the QI Lane

Almost everyone agrees that there is really no point to measuring if there is no will to take action based on the measurements. The real question, is what can we do to get above the noise of so many non-standardized measures that the shear volume is drowning people in measurement to oblivion?

Most of us performance improvement junkies tend to the left brained side of the corpus collosum, however, the real world takes a much more 'balanced' view of life and the world of improvement. And, thankfully so. We are so much more than what one person or one set of talents can accomplish.

In the book, The Fifth Discipline), Peter Senge argues the most accomplished teams have learned to leverage diverse talents so that the sum of the collective parts is not only better than the weakest link, but actually stronger that any of the best members of the team.

Consultants call this synergy. Paul the Apostle used the analogy of the body and it's parts whereby each part relies upon the other to accomplish the work of the whole. I call it smart. Get yourself out of the way long enough to value, respect, enjoy the contributions of others and to seek the best from each talent to increase the sum.

Revision to Medicare QIO's

For years, state QIO's have had a strained relationship with the physician groups they've been asked to regulate (or help).

In a recent report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) under contract from HHS, a new day may be dawning for state QIO's.

Historically, QIO's have performed a number of functions including review of complaints from Medicare beneficiaries, promoting health care quality, assurance that hospitals/doctors meet essential quality standards, and the like. Yet, at the core, most provider organizations haven't experienced QIO's as the one's to turn to for genuine help in measuring and improving quality.

In a new role, QIO's could become a source of technical assistance to health care organizations and practitioners. With an anticipated surge in pay for performance contracts (private and public) and increasing demand to report outcome measures as part of the transparency movement, QIO's may be in a position to actually help practitioners (particularly smaller groups).

And now for the punch line...the regulatory limb of the QIO's would have to be moved to another party (hence the conflicting responsibilities removed).

What's in it for QIO's? Well, for starters, QIO contracts would be open to bid for minimum of 5 year terms. Groups like the Iowa Foundation for Medical Care and MetaStar(QIOs well know true quality approaches) would likely be quite successful in an open bid process to the betterment of several state QIO programs.

Looking ahead, we're optimistic!