Saturday, March 5, 2011

Simplicity is its own reward

Sarah posted an interesting comment about the GP-specialist referral process:

I often wonder if simplification from the patient view can contribute to simplification from the doc's point of view.

Hmmm. Ideally, yes, but I have some reservations.

An elegantly designed system completes tasks reliably, consistently and with minimal waste. The simplicity of such a system would be evident to all users.

However, if the system is poorly designed, then not all users will “see” the simplicity. One user group may end up doing more work in order to use the system, or may suffer confusion, extra expense, and/or wasted time. Often, as healthcare tends to be provider-centred, it’s the patient who is saddled with the extra work and waste.

However, there are instances where providers will take on the extra work for the benefit of patients. This makes the process simpler for patients, but more complicated for providers. I would call this “faux-simplicity”. An example of this would be the Navigator role in healthcare.

A Navigator – often a nurse - guides patients through the complex journey of diagnosis and treatment. For example, a man who is suspected of having prostate cancer may have multiple contacts with the healthcare system including prostate biopsy, CT and bone scans, one (or more) specialty consultations, radiation treatment and surgery. It’s a huge help for the man to have the Navigator coordinate testing and travel for the man.

But, the presence of a Navigator doesn’t make the system simpler.

The patient may perceive less work and worry, but the system remains complex, and the Navigator and other providers still struggle with its waste and inefficiency. (Perhaps the perceived need for a Navigator is an admission that the system is badly broken!)

Does it matter that providers have to do more work, as long as patients are freed from the burden? Yes, it does matter. More time and resources spent wrestling with an inefficient, poorly coordinated system means less time and resources spent giving value to patients.

Ideally, a Navigator position is created as part of a broader, patient and family-centred system redesign. The Navigator would help with that improvement process and, once the system is truly simple and efficient, the Navigator should be out of a job!

An example of patient-centred simplicity that would also be simple for providers is a multidisciplinary cancer clinic. If a man were diagnosed with prostate cancer, he would visit the clinic – perhaps for several hours - where all the necessary testing and consultation would be done in one session. This would involve using Advanced Access principles to ensure same-day access to CT and bone scans. The man could see a urologist, oncologist, nurse specialist, dietician and social worker. The providers’ work is simpler because they can confer at once (with the man and his family, of course) and decide on the preferred treatment.

With current disjointed systems, each provider sees the man independently and then corresponds with other providers. This wastes the man’s time, delays treatment and is prone to miscommunication. Doctors waste more effort when they revisit the man’s chart repeatedly as each new report comes in from other consultants.

So, Sarah, I agree that simpler for the patient can mean simpler for the doctor, but it’s not necessarily so. Watch out for faux-simplicity: kludging another layer of service onto a dysfunctional process, rather than tearing it down and redesigning it so that it is truly patient-centred.

And simpler for everyone.

2 comments:

  1. Too true - I have had this nagging feeling that the quick and expensive fix of navigators, while being necessary for the moment, is letting us get away with avoiding system redesign...great post!

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  2. Thanks for the comment, Kath. The "quick and expensive fixes" not only let us off the hook for deeper system redesign, they actually glorify our system's faults. We take comfort in spending more money to patch up defects.

    Consider the hoopla around the opening of a new hospital unit, say, a cardiac catheterization suite. After the ribbons are cut and backs are patted, no one ever comments that its a shame we had to invest in such a unit at all, given that much of heart disease can be prevented through diet, exercise and smoking cessation.

    We just feel relieved that, if we ever need invasive, rescue-style care, it's readily available. We marvel at the amazing technology that allows specialists to maneuver a tiny tube into our heart's blood supply to unblock gummed up arteries. (Isn't it wonderful what the doctors can do nowadays!)

    Primary prevention is the ultimate simplicity!

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