Recognizing that organizational efficiency is found in more than the physical space, BWBR has launched a new operational planning service that assists companies, especially in health care, in meeting efficiency, experience, quality, and safety goals.
Leading the new service for BWBR is David Voller, a veteran operations’ executive whose experience spans health systems and management engineering, ambulatory care operations, and systems analysis and improvement. Among the systems with which he’s worked include Mayo Clinic Rochester, Mayo Clinic Health Systems, and Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare.
“In facility planning, a significant reason that organizations seek to improve their space is to improve how the organization operates. However, many times such improvements need more than a physical reorientation,” said Peter G. Smith, FAIA, president and CEO of BWBR. “Operational planning looks at the whole ecosystem of an organization so that performance is elevated through better systems and protocols as well as better spaces.”
BWBR’s operational planning service encompasses various elements that include Lean 3P design; value stream and operational enhancement analysis; and master and strategic planning. In Lean 3P planning, production, preparation and process are analyzed to align the flow of people and materials to improve quality outcomes and the patient experience.
In value stream analysis, systems are analyzed to identify waste and evaluate the cultural influences and training within the system that could produce better adoption and results (i.e., change management).
In master and strategic planning, the team evaluates an organization’s market and culture to understand the appetite for change and risk and then structures plans to align service delivery with consumer demand, industry regulations, and health care reform.
“It’s obvious that the outside forces facing health care organizations today are daunting, at best. Many times, though, the real challenge for organizations are the internal structures that make it hard to adapt to the outside influences,” said Voller, who holds a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s degree in human resources management. “Facility design is a large investment for organizations to adapt to the market trends. Operational planning services give organizations the best opportunity to see the greatest return on that investment.”
