Comments on: It’s not “lean” to wait 150 days for an MRI http://www.leanblog.org/2010/01/its-not-lean-to-wait-150-days-for-an-mri/ Mark Graban's leanblog.org - Lean Healthcare, Lean Thinking, Lean Manufacturing, Toyota Production System Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:01:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Henna http://www.leanblog.org/2010/01/its-not-lean-to-wait-150-days-for-an-mri/#comment-8140 Henna Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:57:52 +0000 http://www.leanblog.org/?p=4580#comment-8140 Sorry Mark just wanted add one other comment, I completely agree our system is not perfect. However I feel the difficulty lies in access to the system but not necessarily the system itself. Sorry Mark just wanted add one other comment, I completely agree our system is not perfect. However I feel the difficulty lies in access to the system but not necessarily the system itself.

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]]> By: Henna http://www.leanblog.org/2010/01/its-not-lean-to-wait-150-days-for-an-mri/#comment-8139 Henna Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:51:12 +0000 http://www.leanblog.org/?p=4580#comment-8139 I agree that the MRI system is not 100% "lean" in the business sense however it should be noted that in Ottawa machines are typically run at as close to capacity as possible (see this article -> http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/story.html?id=f0aab085-21aa-4868-82a0-bc500d4071b4). I went for an MRI this morning at the Ottawa Hospital (Civic campus) at 2AM and there were three other patients waiting. The clinic breaks and patients continue again at 3AM. My second MRI is on a Sunday afternoon at 4pm at another Ottawa hospital (Montfort). So from my experience they are doing the best possible job given their resources. The issue is that there is no centralized system. I have spent a lot of time calling the different local hospitals and neighbouring cities (try Kingston) to find the shortest wait times, put myself on every cancellation list and made clear I am available 24 hrs. If there were a centralized system I would not have to bother my doctor to send in multiple requisitions to each hospital. A centralized system would eliminate shorter wait times at other local hospitals and ridiculous wait times at the Ottawa Hospital (both campuses). Most people don't even know that CHEO (Children's Hospitals of Eastern Ontario) does adult MRIs. A centralized system would spread around requests and could reduce the average wait times. I have also heard that budget cuts have made it difficult for Ontario to pay for 24 hour MRIs, which is why not all hospitals can do it. However I have no proof for this. I agree that the MRI system is not 100% “lean” in the business sense however it should be noted that in Ottawa machines are typically run at as close to capacity as possible (see this article -> http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/story.html?id=f0aab085-21aa-4868-82a0-bc500d4071b4). I went for an MRI this morning at the Ottawa Hospital (Civic campus) at 2AM and there were three other patients waiting. The clinic breaks and patients continue again at 3AM. My second MRI is on a Sunday afternoon at 4pm at another Ottawa hospital (Montfort). So from my experience they are doing the best possible job given their resources. The issue is that there is no centralized system. I have spent a lot of time calling the different local hospitals and neighbouring cities (try Kingston) to find the shortest wait times, put myself on every cancellation list and made clear I am available 24 hrs. If there were a centralized system I would not have to bother my doctor to send in multiple requisitions to each hospital. A centralized system would eliminate shorter wait times at other local hospitals and ridiculous wait times at the Ottawa Hospital (both campuses). Most people don’t even know that CHEO (Children’s Hospitals of Eastern Ontario) does adult MRIs. A centralized system would spread around requests and could reduce the average wait times. I have also heard that budget cuts have made it difficult for Ontario to pay for 24 hour MRIs, which is why not all hospitals can do it. However I have no proof for this.

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]]> By: Mark Graban http://www.leanblog.org/2010/01/its-not-lean-to-wait-150-days-for-an-mri/#comment-6982 Mark Graban Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:10:50 +0000 http://www.leanblog.org/?p=4580#comment-6982 Natalie - Thanks for posting your story. I'm sorry to hear about the delays. I am in the U.S. Our system is by no means perfect. But what frustrates me is when the dogmatic healthcare reform advocates in the U.S. paint a picture of Canada's system being perfect. If you even mention government data (say, for Ontario) about patient access problems and waiting delays, they just scream at you. http://www.health.gov.on.ca/transformation/wait_times/index.html Natalie – Thanks for posting your story. I’m sorry to hear about the delays. I am in the U.S.

Our system is by no means perfect. But what frustrates me is when the dogmatic healthcare reform advocates in the U.S. paint a picture of Canada’s system being perfect. If you even mention government data (say, for Ontario) about patient access problems and waiting delays, they just scream at you.

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/transformation/wait_times/index.html

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]]> By: Natalie http://www.leanblog.org/2010/01/its-not-lean-to-wait-150-days-for-an-mri/#comment-6976 Natalie Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:37:50 +0000 http://www.leanblog.org/?p=4580#comment-6976 I don't know where you live but I live in Ottawa. I injured my shoulder 9 months ago. Physio didn't help so x-rays and an ultrasound were ordered. They showed nothing. I was told to try a different physiotherapist. Now, 9 months later, the shoulder is still not any better. Now I have a year to wait for an MRI. The news says that the wait times are down to 150 days here in Ottawa but the reality is that the wait times are close to a year. So, if it's something that needs surgery (probably another 6 month to a year wait), we're looking at over 2 years and maybe even close to 3 years since the initial injury before it's fixed. I'm not a happy camper at the moment! I don’t know where you live but I live in Ottawa. I injured my shoulder 9 months ago. Physio didn’t help so x-rays and an ultrasound were ordered. They showed nothing. I was told to try a different physiotherapist. Now, 9 months later, the shoulder is still not any better. Now I have a year to wait for an MRI. The news says that the wait times are down to 150 days here in Ottawa but the reality is that the wait times are close to a year. So, if it’s something that needs surgery (probably another 6 month to a year wait), we’re looking at over 2 years and maybe even close to 3 years since the initial injury before it’s fixed. I’m not a happy camper at the moment!

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]]> By: Dragan Bosnjak http://www.leanblog.org/2010/01/its-not-lean-to-wait-150-days-for-an-mri/#comment-6935 Dragan Bosnjak Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:08:33 +0000 http://www.leanblog.org/?p=4580#comment-6935 Well I would say that the situation is not much better here in Italy regarding waiting times. But here there is also an other problem: private and public hospitals - the MRI technicians often tend to schedule very long times in the public hospitals and then tell you to go to their friend's private practice where the customer needs to pay much more and have the service made instantly. And they take the percentage of profit for sending this patient... It is a typical example of lame thinking where the only thing in mind of these people is the profit and the patient (customer) is the last on the list... .-= Dragan Bosnjak´s last blog ..<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EncobBlog/~3/PXpTYKP3rZg/" rel="nofollow">What Can We Learn About Lean Psychology and Mastery from Rafa Nadal</a> =-. Well I would say that the situation is not much better here in Italy regarding waiting times. But here there is also an other problem: private and public hospitals – the MRI technicians often tend to schedule very long times in the public hospitals and then tell you to go to their friend’s private practice where the customer needs to pay much more and have the service made instantly. And they take the percentage of profit for sending this patient…
It is a typical example of lame thinking where the only thing in mind of these people is the profit and the patient (customer) is the last on the list…
.-= Dragan Bosnjak´s last blog ..What Can We Learn About Lean Psychology and Mastery from Rafa Nadal =-.

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