The imperatives for an operational HRO culture are thoroughly characterized and readily articulated by HRO insiders and outsiders alike. One of the less frequently discussed key challenges facing healthcare is that many of the HRO principles are counterintuitive and contradictory to general industry and conventional healthcare propositions and beliefs. We believe it is imperative for leadership to understand these differences and paradoxes to be able to effectively nurture the culture that supports the internal dynamics essential for a successful transition to HRO performance.

HRO practices reflect the efficiency of lean engineering and the predictability of six sigma processes. But there is also much more in an HRO – having the mindset and capabilities to operate in a VUCA-T environment and consistently deliver the same results regardless of the circumstances.

Often, conventional performance improvement initiatives show short term promise, but gains seem to be lost over time. The overall error and incident states of healthcare, almost 20 years after the landmark I.O.M. Report with the inestimable cost and number of performance improvement initiatives, reflect this phenomenon. Our services are designed to build on your current initiatives and include comprehensive tools and support for:

  • Using an HRO lens to understand your actual status relating to HRO operations and using this information to guide direction and priorities.
  • Establishing a systematic process to accurately assess progress in the journey to HRO status.
  • Training for all levels of the organization – for the HRO skills, such as communications, teamwork, situational awareness, etc. AND for nurturing HRO behaviors. Training includes reading materials, instructor led training and computer based training.
  • Understanding the important distinctions between failure prevention and failure response.
  • Using proven tools and systems to facilitate and support consistent progress in the transformation of behaviors and practices.
  • Permanently sustaining the gains in the VUCA-T environment so the same initiatives don’t have to be revisited and resources again applied.

Our experts in lean, six sigma, theory of constraints and HRO practices, know how to apply our proven systems and tools and can help you confidently take your organization to HRO levels of performance.