Insights: Trust the process — using Lean and Six Sigma to optimize clinic flow

In this episode of the MGMA Insights podcast, we’re joined by Adrienne Lloyd, MHA, FACHE, chief administrative officer, Duke Eye Center. Lloyd is an MGMA practice management consultant with more than 19 years in healthcare leadership, including a lengthy stint at the Mayo Clinic. She’s certified in Lean and Six Sigma and specializes in training medical professionals on process improvement. 

Don’t quite have time to listen to the entire episode? No worries. We’ve compiled a handful of highlights from Lloyd’s interview for your convenience: 

• (5:44) “I think looking at it from the customer perspective really helps us just focus on what truly is required and important from the patient perspective so that we can spend our time on those things.”
• (20:21) “As leaders, we often try to do everything ourselves, and we feel this huge responsibility to make it work, which is great … but we can’t do it alone.”
• (36:09) “I often show that I Love Lucy chocolate factory video, where we’re just kind of shoving patients in. We have them all show up at 7 o’clock and meanwhile, we don’t have enough staff to even touch the patients, all of them, until 8 o’clock.”
• (41:15) “These days in healthcare, most leaders, we don’t want to be at the top feeling like we’re dictating what needs to happen to our teams or our physicians. We really want to have an organization that feels like a team, that’s a community.”
• (42:19) “Growing is uncomfortable, and change is uncomfortable. But if you’re not changing, then you’re really not moving forward.”

Here are some links and reference related to this week’s show: 

• 5S your practice for optimal success 
• Healthcare Companies Turn to Lean Six Sigma for Better Quality Care and Patient Outcomes
• Process Improvement Should Be Led by People, Supported by Technology 
• Lean Leadership 100 Level (MGMA Online Course) 
• 3 Ways Tech is Leading the Way for Healthcare Process Improvements 
• The Application of Lean in Healthcare 

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We love hearing from listeners about the show. If you have topics you’d like us to cover or experts you’d like us to interview, email us at podcasts@mgma.com or reach out to MGMA Sr. Editor and podcast host Daniel Williams on Twitter at @MGMADaniel. 

MGMA Insights is presented by Decklan McGee, Rob Ketcham and Daniel Williams.