For example, for a patient being admitted for laparoscopic vaporization of endometriosis, the physician is serving multiple customers. The patient's valid requirements dictate a procedure performed in a professional manner which corrects her presenting complaint. The insurance carrier expects the procedure to have been appropriately precertified. Satisfying that customer's expectations of a quality outcome leads to better relationships with customers. We are surrounded by examples where the customers' valid requirements are not met which ultimately leads to less than desirable care.
All work is part of a process.
This statement is true in health care just as it is true in manufacturing industries. As physicians, we are surrounded by many complex processes. For example, there is a complex process that a patient undergoes in order to arrive in the operating room with all pre-operative testing and preparation completed. The completion of the medical record is another complex process that is an integral part of the care of our patients. In industry, it has been repeatedly demonstrated that no one person in a complex process understands the entire process.