ABSTRACT
When the organizational Lean team has departed the site, the role of the physician, manager and supervisor and members of the site Lean team becomes most important. It has been my premise throughout the book that physicians, who stand to gain the most benefit through improvements in operational efficiency, should have a role in being accountable for sustained success. For far too long, healthcare organizations, particularly in large integrated systems, have been focused on “getting physicians to do what they do best and that is see patients.” While I agree with that premise, there also needs to be some time for them to observe and make suggestions for improvement about the work environment in addition to working on teams to actually implement the improvements. Physicians at times tend to be autocratic and very directive to others in terms of what they want. Beyond that façade, I believe that physicians have inherent thinking skills, founded on repetitive use of the scientific method in clinical decision making, to be key supporters for improvement efforts.
