In Lean Healthcare familiarity with Muda (8 wastes) is well known and documented. Less familiar are two other classifications of waste: Muri (overburden) and Mura (unevenness).
If we want to see a continued transformation of healthcare in the United States then Muri must be identifiable and understood in Lean Healthcare.
Muri (overburden) is commonly exhibited when physicians and nurses are asked to complete too many activities in a given period of time. This comes in two forms—either alerts requiring work to be complete or administrative overburden. It leads to stress, frustration, and severe negativity impacting the self-assurance of those doing the work.
Hospitals and clinics are seeing sensory overload from call bells, pages, multiple communication devices, and excessive interruptions resulting in alert fatigue. In addition, with the advent of CPOE, electronic medication administration, and electronic charting, administrative burden associated with patient care has increased. Even those in Lean Healthcare are at times guilty of adding administrative overburden. It is done with the best intentions in mind, but additional activities are sometimes added without evaluating the entire workload of the physician or nurse.
The evidence is clear that CPOE, electronic charting, call bells, and the like increase patient safety and must be embraced. However it must not be at the expense of creating overburden for the physician or the nurse.
For the past 17 years, Joe’s work has focused on operational improvements through lean transformations across North America and Europe. Prior to joining HPP, he worked across a variety of industries in multiple leadership roles from the front line to the executive leadership team. Joe received a B.S. in Engineering and Philosophy at University of New York. Additionally, Joe earned a Masters in Human Resources and Training and Development focused on Business Improvements and Balance Sheets from Webster University.
