Providers who would like to have Dragon Speak for converting voice to text, and have not used it before with PeaceHealth, can request it now.

If you are a provider who has not used Dragon during your employment with PeaceHealth and would like it, you may now request to have this application for converting voice to text. 

I recently visited our clinic operations team in Longview, where we are beginning to implement lean principles. 

Lean is a way to engage caregivers to find ways to reduce waste - in the form of time, energy, and financial resources - while maximizing quality and improving the experience for our patients. In lean, the place where you go to find the best improvement ideas is the Gemba, a Japanese word that means "the real place."

The attention and care that caregivers in Longview are giving this effort is incredibly impressive. For instance, they are using a lean daily management system (DMS) that involves a quick morning huddle during which they identify the day's barriers and issues, and find ways to simplify and streamline their daily tasks so they can focus on doing what patients value most. 

Problems that can't be resolved in the clinic are escalated to the morning leadership huddle, with specific follow-through to make sure they are actioned.

Each caregiver was engaged and wanted to be as effective as possible. The tremendous energy and excitement was palpable. 

Longview PHMG Director of Primary and Subspecialty Care Christe McDaniel told me this: "Our teams have embraced this new way of doing our work with gusto. I am inspired and excited for this to become our standard for change management and efficient problem-solving across the system." 

She also said "I am a huge advocate and believer in what lean will do for our patients and our medical group." 

We're just getting started. All of us will have an opportunity to participate throughout the next 18 months as we bring lean principles to all our work together.