FAQs
What is the Lean Collaborative Process Initiative?
What is Lean?
What is Problem Solving Thinking?
What does work with the Lean CPI Coordinating Center involve?
How do we get more information about the Lean CPI Program?
What are physician organizations and their practice units learning in the Lean CPI?
What is PGIP?
What is the Lean Collaborative Process Initiative?
The Lean Collaborative Process Initiative (Lean CPI) is an initiative of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) Physician Group Incentive Program (PGIP). The Lean CPI is one of the “Core Clinical Process-Focused Initiatives” sponsored by PGIP. Physician organizations (POs) participating in PGIP are implementing innovative strategies to improve the quality, value and efficiency of health care in the state. Buying term papers online that follow that topic can be an easy way to improve your own skills and other people's level of knowledge.
At its core, the Lean CPI supports the development of a sustainable lean learning program within POs and practice units (PUs) through experience-based learning and application-based coaching of problem solving thinking and tools. A Plan-Do-Study-Adjust (PDSA) problem solving approach with an A3 based documentation format is used to define a problem, understand the current condition, develop goals and identify root causes. Through three consecutive lean learning cycles with a PO, the Lean CPI coaches the PO through the principles of lean thinking to support practice transformation and problem solving capability development. Problem solving capability enables the practice units to continuously improve beyond their work with the Lean CPI.
Starting in 2015, the area of focus of the Lean CPI has been re-aligned with BCBSM’s strategic objective of improved quality performance as measured by HEDIS® measures.
What is Lean?
Lean Thinking emphasizes that those individuals actually doing the work are best able to determine how to change the work. These people are called the process owners.
The Lean Thinking approach will assist the process owners, and their supportive leadership, in identifying non-value added work in their current processes and problem-solving methods to develop future processes. These future processes emphasize value added work, where each effort focuses on effective and efficient results.
Lean Thinking is often described using a “House of Lean” as a way to frame the different concepts that make lean thinking unique. See the Lean for Clinical Redesign adaptation of the House of Lean below (click to enlarge).
Learn more about Lean Thinking:
Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI): http://www.lean.org/WhatsLean/
Michigan Quality System (MQS): http://www.med.umich.edu/mqs/
What is Problem Solving Thinking?
Often described as PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Adjust), problem solving thinking outlines the organized steps to define a problem, understand the current state, identify root causes and plan changes for improvement. The diagram below outlines problem solving thinking and steps (click to enlarge):
What does work with the Lean CPI Coordinating Center involve?
Working with the Lean for Clinical Redesign Coordinating Center involves a facilitated multi-step, multi-month process which engages individuals at all levels in the organization. The following link will take you to an overview of the Lean for Clinical Redesign Learning Cycle Model.
How do we get more information about the Lean CPI Program?
Contact the Lean Coordinating Center for information:
Whitney Walters, Director – Lean for Clinical Redesign:
What are physician organizations and their practice units learning in the Lean CPI?
POs and PUs are learning and developing the routines and habits of daily problem solving. Clinic teams often indicate that they practice with a great deal of chaos (i.e., interruptions, lack of standard work, inconsistencies) in their current state. The teams learn various principles, tools and skills to help reduce this chaos and create sustainable improvements in patient care and their work environments.
The Lean CPI participants have addressed areas of improvement in their care processes including:
- Provider accessibility
- Throughput of patients from registration through checkout
- Diabetes management – patient care, registry establishment and test tracking
- Scheduling capability and reliability
- Test tracking and order management
What is PGIP?
The Physician Group Incentive Program (PGIP) began in 2005 to encourage and incent physicians to more effectively manage populations of patients and build an infrastructure to robustly measure and monitor care quality. As of January 2013, 43 physician organizations (POs) across the state of Michigan representing nearly 17,000 primary care physicians and specialists are working together to improve health care for nearly 2 million Michigan Blues members. Additionally, PGIP is cultivating a healthier future for all Michigan residents by catalyzing all-payer system development. Patients throughout the state, regardless of payer, benefit from the improved care processes developed through the PGIP provider community.