Assignment

A New Perspective, the following case study is presented for your consideration:

At a professional conference, the owner of a 100-bed assisted living facility learns about new ways to create patient-centered programming within assisted living settings. Intent on making care delivery at his own facility a more patient-centered experience for residents, he asks the assisted living administrator to implement changes. The administrator has seen the effectiveness of a Six Sigma approach to improvement in a hospital where he was formerly employed. With the help of the consultant, he begins a Six Sigma project to make the residence more patient-centered. They progress through the design-measure-analyze-improve-control (DMAIC) phases of Six Sigma. In obtaining the "the voice of the customer" during the design phase, staff learn that different stakeholders have different values. The residents most value their freedom, the residents' families most value the residents' safety, and staff most value efficiency. During the analyze and improve phases, staff are able to identify solutions that create more patient-centered programming with only minimally increased risk to the residents and that uses fewer resources (e.g. providing interactive videos for patients that identify option and the relative benefits, risks, and costs of each option). The goals are that residents are pleased and their families agree that the improved quality of life for their loved ones is worth the minimally increased risk.

Who are the relevant stakeholder groups? That is, who will be affected by the change?

What are the group's most important values?

What techniques could be used to enable the stakeholder groups to learn each other's values and concerns and to identify shared values and priorities?