Service Redesign Resource

Where are we now?

Have you ever decorated a room in your house, got to the end of the project and realised you don’t have any photos of how the room looked before you started?  Nothing helps demonstrate improvement as much as an objective comparison of before and after data but it’s too late to collect the before data when the improvement process has already started or is finished.  Just like the home renovation project, you will always be trying to remember and describe how things were before rather than show with objective evidence.

Collecting useful information before you start will help you identify where process redesign efforts need to be directed and critically, will allow you to evaluate changes in line with your process redesign objectives.  This section of the resource contains links to a range of tools to help you define, analyse and map your current processes as well as a detailed overview on Measurement for Improvement from England’s National Health Service’s Institute for Innovation and Improvement.

Involving consumers early on in your process redesign project can be critical.  Process redesign should be undertaken from the patient’s perspective and who better to provide input into mapping the patient pathway than the patient and their carers.  Consumers are in a unique position to provide both an internal and external perspective on health system processes.  They are internal to the process because they are (or should be) the focus of the health system process.  However, they are also external to the process because they are outside the system which delivers the care.

At this point you may want to identify and enlist stakeholders and assemble a team for the process redesign activity.  Understanding how teams work and how different personalities learn and behave may assist you with assembling your team.

Further reading:

Michalski W J, King DG, Tool Navigator: The master guide for teams Productivity Press, Portland Oregon, 1997

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