Introduction
Quality improvement projects in healthcare aim to bring change to hospitals by implementing specific strategies. These strategies are quality enhancement models that include PDSA, FADE, Focus PDSA, Rapid Cycle Improvement, Six Sigma, Lean, and Lean Six Sigma (O’Donnell & Gupta, 2020). The goal of these initiatives may range from enhancing the work environment to ameliorating health outcomes (O’Donnell & Gupta, 2020). Being among one of the most developed systems worldwide, Canadian healthcare strives to implement different approaches to improve the quality of care. Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) seeks to attain better health outcomes for patients using Lean principles.
Quality Improvement Model
The Lean model for quality improvement is widely used in healthcare institutions. It is based on the principle of improving value through waste reduction, which means that all unnecessary processes are eliminated to focus on the primary aim (O’Donnell & Gupta, 2020). According to the Lean code, seven types of waste impede product or service amelioration: inventory, transport, overproduction, waiting, defects, and over-processing (O’Donnell & Gupta, 2020). Although this model was originally developed in the business sector, it became quickly incorporated in healthcare, allowing the removal of non-value-added processes (Cohen, 2018). Lean consists of five basic steps: understanding value, visiting the problem site, visualizing the enhancement process, deployment of a plan, and pursuing perfection (Cohen, 2018). In this case, the lean model allowed to remove unnecessary tasks, giving healthcare workers more time to work with patients.
Issue Background
The issue raised by the CMHA was that mental health services often were not sufficiently accountable for patient experiences and outcomes. As part of this initiative, in 2010, the Excellent Care for All Act was introduced to provide knowledge and training to clinicians to enhance medical help (CMHA, n.d.b). Specifically, CMHA decided to concentrate on mental health and addiction in this quality improvement initiative because people with this problem are often brought to hospitals during the most vulnerable points of their lives. Furthermore, about 21% of Canadians meet the criteria for addiction at some point in their lives, and 10% of the population belong to the group of problematic users and individuals with chronic dependence (CMHA, n.d.a). Therefore, consultants need to direct maximum energy to help these individuals accept and overcome this psychiatric disease.
The Lean Model to Improve Mental Health Service
The objective of this project was to ameliorate care for patients with mental health issues, particularly addiction. CMHA entered the 18-month collaboration with Health Quality Ontario and Addictions and Mental Health Ontario to train personnel on the new principles of quality enhancement (CMHA, n.d.b). This initiative’s title was the Excellence through Quality Improvement Project (E-QIP) (CMHA, n.d.b). During this time, the staff received training, underwent surveys, and learned about annual improvement plans. E-QIP helped mental health workers to focus on essential activities that may alleviate patients’ conditions (CMHA, n.d.b). Specifically, the Lean model helped eliminate such wasteful processes as waiting time and duplicate services, making consultations effective and timely (CMHA, n.d.b). Overall, the Lean principles allowed to boost the efficiency of health services available for individuals with addiction and substance use problems.
Personal Reflection
I think that the implementation of the Lean model to improve mental health services was essential because many patients with addiction could not receive adequate treatment since healthcare workers were overwhelmed with other tasks. Removing duplicate services and waiting time improved care quality, leading to better outcomes. This method allowed for achieving superior patient outcomes due to boosting work efficiency and eliminating wasteful stages, ensuring that more time was dedicated to patients.
Conclusion
Quality improvement models are valuable tools for increasing the effectiveness of hospitals. The case reviewed in this essay is the implementation of the Lean principles to make mental health services in Ontario better. Specifically, CMHA focused on working with health institutions that treat people with addiction. CMHA trained the staff to reduce duplicate services and manage limited resources to attain superior outcomes using the Lean model. It is suggested that all mental health workers be educated using the Lean model to help individuals in need without being distracted by secondary tasks.
References
CMHA. (n.d.a). Substance use and addiction.
CMHA. (n.d.b). Quality improvement.
Cohen, R. I. (2018). Lean methodology in health care. Chest, 154(6), 1448-1454.
O’Donnell, B., & Gupta, V. (2020). Continuous quality improvement [eBook edition]. StatPearls Publishing.