Description
We include the roles and responsibilities of the two organizational components in achieving high reliability: (1) leadership and (2) the reliability engineers who apply reliability methods both technically and socially throughout the value stream of healthcare. Please allow me to use the term engineer for those who learn and apply the science of reliability even though they may not be schooled in reliability nor an engineer. What is key is the passion to learn and to apply.
Leading without engineering and engineering without leading eliminate any chance of achieving the high reliability that healthcare can achieve
The space shuttle Challenger catastrophe could have been prevented if leadership had listened to Morton Thiokol engineers. NASA leadership was responsible because it held the decision-making authority. Retired engineer, Bob Ebeling recalls, “Had they listened to me and wait(ed) for a weather change, it might have been a completely different outcome.” “30 Years After Explosion, Challenger Engineer Still Blames Himself,” National Public Radio interview aired 1/28/2016
My request is for both leaders and reliability engineers to read this book from cover to cover for a shared understanding of what each role must accomplish and why. A common understanding leads to a shared appreciation of each other’s recommendations and thus more likely better decisions and behaviors for higher reliability. Knowing that each other’s interests vary in terms of detail within each role, we highlight the areas of detail for each role so that the reader of interest may more quickly refer back when leading or designing reliability improvement.
Case studies of both high reliability and failures permeate this book because we believe that history does repeat itself. The leaders in reliability are students of history and believe that learning the mistakes of the past and mindfulness in the present and future are a first step toward higher reliability.
Reliability is defined in Chapter 1 with the culture of high-reliability organizations discussed in Chapter 4. Shared throughout the book are the necessary infrastructure, methods, and analytics to achieve higher reliability and to sustain it, for without sustaining reliability, there is no reliability.
Leadership principles are critical in becoming, sustaining, and improving high-reliability organizations, for it is the leadership in healthcare that must now focus on reliability, resource it, and reinforce it as healthcare begins to compete on quality.
Reliability engineers will learn the methods and analytics and how to communicate with leaders in achieving higher reliability.
Included in this book are case studies of achieving higher reliability within healthcare, some achieving zero defects for years. Because many key elements of a high-reliability organization are missing or still void in healthcare, I added case studies that are relevant to healthcare and that give insight to our healthcare sites of the future. Graphics and illustrations share visually the look of a high-reliability healthcare organization.