transforming your business through process improvement · • business owners; and • information...

Transforming Your Business Through Process Improvement

Presented by:Jenna Skop and Kristy Adams

Moderated by:Marilyn Childress

TODAY’S PRESENTERS

Kristy AdamsDirector of Revenue Cycle Operations

CareSource

Jenna SkopExperienced Consultant

Clark Schaefer Consulting - Cincinnati

Agenda

• Purpose and benefits of Business Process Improvement • Techniques for assessing root cause of process problems• Metrics for analyzing business processes• Strategies that eliminate waste • The importance of monitoring and managing processes

What is Business Process Improvement?

Exercise where management (or other leaders):

• Use various methodologies• To analyze their procedures• To identify areas where they

can improve accuracy, effectiveness, and/or efficiency; and

• Redesign a process to realize these suggested improvement areas.

Process Improvement and Lean Six Sigma

Lean Six Sigma consists of five basic phases (DMAIC):

• Define the problem• Measure• Analyze• Improve• Control

Business Process Improvement Case Study:

CareSource & Clark Schaefer Consulting

CSC/CareSource Case Study

• A business process improvement project was jointly performed between Clark Schaefer Consulting and CareSource in 2018.

• The focus was to improve an area that had experienced rapid growth.

Before Beginning a Process Improvement Project, Consider…

If the process has an obvious problem;• Could changes to the process increase revenue, cut costs, or improve efficiency

within the organization?• Is there collectable data that can be used to measure?

You don’t want to set yourself up for failure!

Define the Problem

You’ve already determined there is an obvious issue, but what is the specific problem?

• Does the business need to cut costs?• Are there automated processes not being utilized?• Are there continuous data quality issues?• Has growth made old processes inefficient?

Define the Problem, Continued…

• Confirm the process is causing a problem at the organization.• What is the data showing you?

Remember, data is king (and key)!• Confirm the impact of the problem and create a problem statement, which

should include:• Severity;• Business impact; and • Specific area.

• Determine if resources are available to work on the issue.• Ensure you are talking to the right people!

Define the Problem, Continued…

• Develop a Goal Statement• What are you trying to accomplish?

Objectives should be measurable and include timing goals.• Consider your customers

• What are their requirements?• Map Out the Process

• Which part are you trying to focus on?

Define the Problem:What We Did

• Identified the pain point(s)• Verified the performance measure that needed to improve.• Determined that failure to address the issue was high risk.• Established the scope of the problem:

• Who is involved?• What processes are impacted?• Does the scope encompass the data used for the performance measure

that needs to improve?

Measure - Mapping Out the Current State

• Establish the baseline – what does the current process look like?

You will measure all improvements against this baseline!

• Identify waste in the process or what might be causing the problem.

• Determine if your data is reliable.• Focus on facts.

Measure - Mapping Out the Current State:What We Did

• Developed the current state of the process.• Met with senior management to receive buy-in.• Identified changes to the business and elements of process inefficiencies.• Created detailed maps of the current process, and continuously update as

more data/information is obtained.• Documented business requirements.

Measure - Mapping Out the Current State:What We Did, Continued…

• Reviewed regulatory and other legal requirements, customer requirements and contracts, and interviewed business process owners.

• Reviewed available data to determine trends and areas of concern.• Reviewed available tools to determine:

• Inefficiencies• Inaccuracies • Other limitations

Analyze - Identify the Cause of the Problem

• It can be intertwined with the previous measure phase.• The team continues to narrow down defects causing the issue.• Data collection continues.

Analyze - Identify the Cause of the Problem, Continued…

The team will:• Inspect the data;• Verify the proposed cause of the problem

The team must confirm the proposed root cause before going on to the next phase of the project.

Analyze - Identify the Cause of the Problem:What We Did

• Held continuous meetings with stakeholders.• Involved new stakeholders as identified and as

appropriate.• Maintained focus on the scope of the project

and the success criteria.

Improve –Verify the Solution

How are you going to fix the problem?• Brainstorm solutions;• Employ practical solutions;• Map the “future state” of the process; and• Select the best solution.

Improve –Verify the Solution:What We Did

• Met as a team with:• Business owners; and• Information Technology (IT).

• Created process flows to map out the desired future state. Since multiple sub-processes were involved, individual process flows were created.

• With IT, reviewed all current-state documentation and desired future-state process flows.

Improve – Implement the Solution

• Implementation requires successful planning.• The team must consider:

• Logistics;• Staffing;• Training;• Documentation;• Methods of communication; and • Potential barriers to implementation.

Improve – Implement the Solution:What We Did

We considered:• Logistics – How could we implement the proposed solution (in this case,

new software and new staffing)?• Timeline – What are the major implementation milestones?• Training – How would we train employees in this new process?• Documentation – What policies, procedures, process flows, etc. would

guide the solution’s execution?• Barriers to implementation -

• Organizational priorities;• Management buy-in and approval; and• Resource availability.

Control – Maintain the Solution

• The team should have built the backbone of the future process.• As the team hands over their results, employees using the new

process should understand the process can be continuously improved.

• Monitoring should include key measurements to assess performance.

• Apply your new knowledge to other business areas.

Control – Maintain the Solution:What We Did

• Worked with IT to create new software.• Increased staff capacity, as identified by the team.• Trained staff to use new IT solution.• Documented new business procedures. • Created appropriate process controls.• Established metrics-tracking to continuously measure results or identify new

issues requiring attention.• Scheduled recurring collaboration meetings with all impacted functions.

Do’s and Don’ts in Process ImprovementDO DON’T

Remember the scope of the project and what the success criteria are.

Think a one-time change will improve the process.

Involve the right people. As identified, you can bring in additional people who are key to the process.

Think of process improvement at the organizational (too broad) or individual (too narrow) level.

Be prepared for pushback. Forget data is king (and key).

Document the future state and consider the future state when defining the solution.

Ignore the importance of monitoring after implementation is complete.

Questions?

Kristy AdamsKristy.adams@caresource.com

Jenna Skopjskop@clarkschaefer.com