Blog's Breakfast

Here’s a smorgasbord of our recent results. Bon appetit!

It looks like we’re back in the swing of things after the holidays. The number of backlog patients seen was really down in November and December, coinciding with many of our group being away on vacation. We have a goal of seeing 60 backlog patients every week, and we topped that last week. First time in 5 months!

Back in November, we got excited about the 3rd next available appointment times dropping. We were disappointed to see the line climb back up again. Well, here we go again. The latest 3NAA has dropped “significantly”, but will it stay down?  Stay tuned!

At our team meeting yesterday, we reviewed some preliminary results from measuring recall intervals.  For the last few weeks, we’ve been tracking how frequently our urologists recall patients for office visits. We’re recording 3, 6, and 12-month recall intervals. I was surprised to see that I had a high number of 3-month recalls. So much for setting an example!

Darwin's Cystoscope

What's wrong with this picture?

This is the printer ink cartridge aisle at my local office supply store. Or rather, it's just one brand's section of cartridges.

This...

...is the entire aisle. (Actually just one side of it!)

Do I need so many choices? Are these even choices? I spent several minutes hunting for the particular cartridge that suits my printer model. Finally, I had to ask for help. (I'm a guy. That hurt!)

I just want my printer to work. Having to pick through all these cartridges is a nuisance.

I'd be happier with this experience:

"Hi. I need an ink cartridge for my Nagamatsu BG154."

"Here you go."

"Um, are you sure? It looked like you just grabbed the first cartridge that was handy."

"I sure did. Nagamatsu only makes one type of cartridge."

Sometimes "choice" is just noise. Clutter. Fruitless variation. Muda.

Naturally, shopping for ink cartridges makes me think about inserting tubes up urethras.