Catalysis Healthcare Value Network member, UMass Memorial Health Care, has been on a lean journey for many years. Eric Dickson, President & CEO, said, “for us to become the best place to give care and the best place to get care, we need an army of problem solvers and innovators.”

To create this army of problem solvers and innovators they needed to empower employees, so they created an idea system. The components of the idea system include: idea boards, idea cards, metrics, team huddles, and celebration. In the beginning they focused on creating awareness and training of the system as well as tracking implemented ideas. As the organization matured and their army of problem solvers gained momentum and confidence UMass Memorial shifted to working to spread best practices and principle-based behaviors, as well as linking improvement ideas to True North metrics.

The number of implemented ideas has grown dramatically since 2014, year to date reaching 31,324 in just the academic medical center and an additional 25,445 in the other entities of the system.