It's about streamlining, it's about improving processes and procedures and bottom, line, it's about improving the lives of Saskatchewan residents.
The province has announced it is moving forward with a plan to transform the health care system and achieve better health for residents, better care for patients, better teams of health care providers and better value for taxpayer dollars. Saskatchewan was the first province in Canada to proceed in implementing Lean concepts across its entire health care system.
"Saskatchewan is uniquely positioned to introduce major, meaningful health care reform, with many supportive partners involved," Health Minister Dustin Duncan says. More than 200 Lean projects are reportedly underway in Saskatchewan health regions, saving taxpayer dollars and boosting efficiency.
Saskatchewan's Lean improvement efforts focus on strategic priorities including the Saskatchewan Surgical Initiative, primary health care, safety and shared services. Lean is also the foundation for Releasing Time to CareTM (RTC), a program that has been implemented in provincial, regional, and community hospitals across the province since 2008. "Adopting Lean is the next logical step in the quality improvement journey we have been travelling in Saskatchewan's health care system over the past 10 years," Health Quality Council CEO Bonnie Brossart comments.
And Yorkton physicians agree. "I recently participated in a Lean 3P process to look at designing a primary health care clinic," Yorkton family physician Dr. Phillip Fourie says. "We had patients, physicians, other providers and support staff all focus on quality. This process helped us remove unnecessary waste in the system and come up with solutions to provide an environment for patients to receive optimal care."
More than 40,000 people work in Saskatchewan's health care system, and more than 800,000 individuals interact with Saskatchewan's health system every year.
We want the care we need, without wasteful spending. If the lean initiative can help us achieve the optimum end result, then let's proceed full steam ahead!
