Lean Veterinary Practice Management: Higher Quality, Less Waste, Better Resource Utilization and Continuous Improvement

What would it mean to your veterinary practice if you found a new, teachable and learnable system that promotes the following:Using operational excellence as a business strategyUsing an objective, scientific, systems-based model to manage your practiceDefining your perfect practice and developing a methodology to pursue that visionIncreasing value from your client's point of viewUtilizing all resources, including doctors and staff, more effectivelyWorking relentlessly to reduce or eliminate wasteBuilding a culture of everyone improving their jobs every dayStandardizing work to improve flow and qualityMaking problems visible and reacting quicklyUnderstanding problems and solving them at their root cause(s)Respecting workers and all stakeholdersThe Toyota Production System, or Lean as it is known in the West, has accomplished this in virtually every industry including human healthcare. Can it do the same for the practice of veterinary medicine? There is no reason it can't! Lean may very well be the new paradigm for veterinary management in the future.Lean is not about molding your practice into some expert’s idea of a “cookie cutter, benchmark” copy of practices from other parts of the country. Lean understands that you are the expert of your practice. Your practice, your demographics and your staff are all unique. The Lean mindset is about making your veterinary practice the best your veterinary practice it can be.Utilizing the same mindsets and methodologies veterinarians and their staff use to diagnose and treat their patients, Lean Veterinary Practice Management will help you figure out how to accomplish all of this, and more, for your practice.