Variation that Cannot be Eliminated

Variation that Cannot be Eliminated

NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT:Variation that Cannot be Eliminated

Processes that involve highly customized products or services are generally not conducive to standardization and the elimination of variation inherent to the process.

Some argue that delivery of care is subject to variation owing to its very nature and the individual needs of patients. There is little doubt that each patient’s care should be tailored to meet his or her specific needs. Nevertheless, delivery of care involves some common processes that can be standardized and improved upon without jeopardizing care.

Transitioning to the Future State

Following redesign efforts, regardless of whether they occurred during or after an implementation or as a stand-alone process improvement event, steps must be taken to ensure that change takes hold and the new workflow continues after the support team has disbanded. Management support and involvement during the transition phase is essential, as management will be necessary to enforce new workflow procedures and further define/refine roles and responsibilities. Documentation of the future-state workflow should have occurred during the redesign effort but is not completely finished until after the redesign is complete and the workflow has become operational. Policies and procedures are addressed and rewritten to encompass the changes to workflows and role assignments. Help desk, system analyst, nursing education, and other support personnel need to be educated about the workflow specifics as part of the postimprovement effort. It is considered good practice to involve the operational staff in the future process discussions and planning so as to incorporate specifics of these areas and ensure the buy-in of the staff.

When workflow changes begin to fail and workarounds develop, they signal that something is flawed about the way in which the new process was constructed and neVariation that Cannot be Eliminatedhe process.