Gain Competitive Advantage by Aligning Process Improvement with Hospital Strategy

Session
Potpourri

Author
Mike Holland
Director of Process Excellence
OhioHealth

Description
Goal Deployment is the operational application of the strategic plan. Also known as Hoshin Kanri, it transforms long-term objectives into actionable, process-oriented focus areas which are managed by hospital leadership at the appropriate level. Learn how OhioHealth uses Goal Deployment to create a pull for high-impact process improvements.

Abstract
The Goal Deployment process is a tool that creates competitive advantage for organizations that use it with discipline. At OhioHealth, we are teaching and facilitating Goal Deployment to leadership at each of our hospital campuses, as well as Corporate Quality. Goal Deployment naturally fits in our business planning cycle near the end of our fiscal year. The campuses first must understand any shifts in their Strategic Plan and Balanced Scorecard targets for the coming year.

The process starts at the VP/senior level, where 3-5 year goals are discussed, agreed upon, and prioritized. These goals are breakthrough and critical to the long-term success of the hospital. Next aggressive annual targets are set for each. Then, the next level of staff gets involved, i.e. Directors, to determine which processes need overhauled and which ones need to be created to achieve the annual targets. Accountability is then appropriately assigned, action plans are created, monthly targets are determined, and progress is monitored in monthly Ops Reviews. These reviews also provide a mechanism to track the metrics that are critical to our day-to-day success. This highly visible process creates a critical pull for process improvement activity that is aligned with the priorities of the hospital.