What if you could redesign healthcare from the ground up? If you were to start with the healthcare value-added test applied to each decision, what would healthcare delivery look, sound, and feel like? Would you be able to shake off the preconceived notions of what it takes to run a healthcare system? Would hospitals be recognizable? In this week's post of Steve's Dojo (or continuing Lean Six Sigma education), we revisit the healthcare value-added test.

Complete archive of the lean six sigma training series: Steve's Dojo.

What is the strongest predictor of an effective solution? It’s not the size of the committee or the length of the brainstorming session. The best predictor of successful solutions is how well the problem is understood. Investing time in defining, investigating and analyzing the problem can lead to transformative solutions.

Improving value in healthcare means redesigning care to meet patients’ needs. We must push ourselves beyond patient satisfaction surveys to reduce uncertainty, complexity, and confusion in the delivery of care. Matthew Stein, MD, and the Breast Imaging team unflinchingly faced a source of uncertainty for patients: waiting for mammogram results.

Translating strategic priorities into everyday execution across a large, complex enterprise might seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Our Operational Plan is a blueprint that combines processes, tools, knowledge, and skills to deliver on these priorities.

The following case study examines a new core competency in delivering value at a system level. At the University of Utah, leaders created integrated oncology teams organized for the patient. Collapsing historical silos and empowering front-line leaders grew adaptive teams that offered better value to cancer patients.

Chief Medical Officer of Press Ganey Tom Lee reminds us that value does not happen by accident, and good intentions are not enough. The goal of improving value has to be a major focus for everyone in an organization.

It’s clear that fee-for-service health care isn't working—so what alternative payment model does?

For years, the Exceptional Value Annual Report documented the performance of the organization on all 45 of the key initiatives identified in the Operational Plan.

Health care organizations and providers have some understanding what they charge for care. But nationally, providers have a “complete lack of understanding” about the costs of health care, according to Michael Porter, Ph.D., and Robert Kaplan, Ph.D., ("The Big Idea: How to Solve the Cost Crisis in Health Care").

Utah “holds a unique distinction” when it comes to health care, according to a special report by the New England Journal of Medicine.