Practitioner Perceptions of the A3 Method for Process Improvement in Health Care

Abstract

The focus of this paper is to present students' perceptions of the recently developed A3 method, a structured problem solving approach based on lean concepts and tools that have been adapted to the health care environment. The students were all employees of a large health care provider and were enrolled in a customized health care executive MBA Program. Each student was required to complete an individual A3 Project in order to improve a process at the department for which they worked. At the end of the semester the students presented their A3 projects to their peers who voted on the best projects. A survey measuring perceptions of the A3 method for problem solving in health care was administered and from it we present propositions for A3 implementation. These propositions are applicable both to health care practitioners and to academic researchers.

Hoshin Kanri and A3: a proposal for integrating variability into the policy deployment process

“…However, there are some limitations in the application of the A3 methodology. Visich et al (2010) highlighted some difficulties in its implementation, such as the tendency to omit steps in the analysis of the problems, incorrect identification of the problem to be solved, the collection of information related to the situation in which the problem occurs, and the capture and sharing of knowledge obtained (Saad, Al-Ashaab, Shehab and Maksimovic, 2013). It is also noted that there are different perspectives on the same problem.…”

In-Hospital Delays Result in Worse Patient Outcomes and Higher Cost After Cardiac Surgery

“…Structured Problem Solving (SPS) [17,18] is a worksheet tool with subsections that organize identification of process issues and clarification of solutions. Experience with SPS can allow people doing work at all levels to recognize and translate problems into actionable changes.…”

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“…The most important conclusion the authors derived from their survey of students was that “ complex unstructured projects are more effective than traditional academic analyses in enhancing all of the critical learning dimensions described in the literature review of this article .” (p. 23). Visich, Wicks, and Zalila (2010) reported on the pedagogical impact of individual A3 process improvement projects for an Executive MBA class of health care professionals taking a course on Quality Management. Project outcomes indicated that the A3 method could be initiated by employees with basic training in lean and quality tools in a short period of time (less than 3 months).…”