Implementing Lean Care Management practices can positively impact employee retention by improving communication, streamlining processes, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. Employees feel valued and supported, leading to higher job satisfaction and loyalty.
Kelley [00:00:00]:
Hello and welcome to caring without a care. My name is Kelley Tenney and I’m here with the amazing Anand Chaturvedi, who is an accomplished health technology strategist and works behind the scenes in long term care and really supporting people in growing their businesses. Welcome, Anand. Thanks for being here today.
Anand [00:00:20]:
Thank you, Kelley. Thanks for having me.
Kelley [00:00:22]:
Yes. Now, I have to ask. I know that you have talked about a concept called Lean Care management and you’ve talked about how this concept of lean care management is something that can really be a game changer for people in the long term care industry when it comes to growing their business. Could you summarize for us what that concept of lean care management is?
Anand [00:00:47]:
Kelley, Lean care is a very simple concept. It has four components, people, process, technology and training. By people, What I mean by is, do we have right people in the roles that you want them to play, and we’ll talk more about that later. Then comes process, which basically means without going overboard with all sorts of documentation, do you have, as a provider a simple process that you can use to evaluate your people? Because you have right people, how do you evaluate them? What kind of job do you give them? There has to be a process. Now, many times people do have a process, but they don’t recognize it because it keeps on changing. So the question is, do you have the right process? Then come technology because it becomes a shiny object. Everybody wants to use the latest and greatest, but latest and greatest might not be the best for your business. So the question is, how do you evaluate? And the last part is, when you have the people, process, even the technology, how do you train people to use it? Because you are not using them together.
Anand [00:02:00]:
This is obvious. So if you have these four elements put in place there you have lean care management working for you.
Kelley [00:02:07]:
So you mentioned the first part of lean care management, which is people. And I know that in this industry there’s a big challenge when it comes to staffing. Right. And lack of staffing. And correct me if I’m wrong, but is there a lot of turnover when it comes to staffing in this industry?
Anand [00:02:25]:
But there is, Kelley, there are some studies, especially in the last couple of years, when people have identified that nearly 60%, 60% of caregivers who are hourly caregivers leave their job within 1st 90 days.
Kelley [00:02:42]:
Wow. So that is something I think that’s exceptionally high. So let’s focus on that concept of people. When it comes to looking at the people that are in your business that you’re bringing into your business, where should somebody start well, the first thing you.
Anand [00:03:01]:
Need to do is, as an entrepreneur, as a provider, identify your own values. What kind of people do you want yourself to surround with? Now, that question is actually deep rooted. Not people who look like you, not people who speak like you, but people who are going to represent your brand. And in the long term care space, this is so important because your clients do not see you as an entrepreneur in their homes. They see your employee. So the first thing is, does the employee carry your brand values? And what are they? Are they reflective of their personal appearance? Are they reflective how they speak? Have you given thought in terms of how you want to be portrayed in the marketplace? And then how do you find these people? Because, Kelly, one thing that we have seen in the last couple of years is some providers get desperate. And when they get desperate, they would say, I would hire anybody. Anybody.
Anand [00:04:04]:
And that’s a mistake, because then it becomes a revolving door. They come through your entry point and they leave through the exit in the first 72 hours. So who are the right people, do you think, who match with you? And very importantly, on the people part, do you have what it takes for them to stay with you? Balance those two.
Kelley [00:04:32]:
So I want to ask a question, because I think that we’re on to something that’s crucial here. When I think about long term care, when I think about the healthcare industry, I would imagine that for the client, for the patient, it can be extremely stressful to have somebody new that’s coming into their home to care for them because of this high rate of turnover.
Anand [00:04:59]:
Right.
Kelley [00:04:59]:
And so my mom, for example, is diabetic. She’s in kidney failure. I know that when her normal care person isn’t there, it’s very disruptive to her schedule. She’s formed that relationship. And I think part of that up leveled customer service is to allow your clients to have a relationship with your employees. And so I think this concept of people is something that’s not only important, obviously, within the business, but important in terms of customer service.
Anand [00:05:29]:
Right.
Kelley [00:05:30]:
And the value and the care that you can provide your employees. So I can see how some of those considerations that you mentioned, are they in alignment with your values?
Anand [00:05:41]:
Right.
Kelley [00:05:41]:
Are they representing your brand accurately would be key. And you also mentioned looking at yourself.
Anand [00:05:48]:
Right.
Kelley [00:05:48]:
Like, are you somebody that is easy to work with? What are some considerations that you can share for someone who might be asking? Well, I don’t know if I’m someone that’s easy to work with. I don’t know if maybe I was a nurse and I’m used to working for somebody, and now maybe having people work for me is a new concept. So what are some considerations that they might want to think about when it comes to that piece?
Anand [00:06:15]:
Well, there are several ways to look at that galley, and we’ll look at those in details as we go into the specific challenges. But the very first thing any provider should do is to look at their employee records in terms of their own retention from the past six months, what kind of people have left them. And then second, look at your client service, because you brought up a very good point. Every client has a unique situation. We all carry a unique story. There are 8 billion people on this planet. Everyone has a different story. And when people are vulnerable, they are not able to tell their story that well.
Anand [00:06:56]:
But a caregiver who sees them, spends time with them every day, builds that kind of a bond. So the point here is, when you have caregivers or employees, you not only care, but office employees who are leaving, did they leave because of an issue with you as a provider? Did they leave because of an issue with the client? That basically means that you did not have client caregiver compatibility. Or the third thing is you are having clients who are leaving you because they don’t have a caregiver who’s compatible with their personal values. First, look at that, and then you can start finding clues around the route.
Kelley [00:07:38]:
That’s such good feedback. And I can see why people is the first piece of lean care and how people can really make a difference in people’s business, both internally and client facing. So thank you for that. And thank you for really giving us insight on just that one. Right. One of four components that we need to be thinking about when it comes to lean care. And I know that we’ll be having many more conversations around some of those other components. So thank you for sharing with us today Anand about lean care management and the concept of people.
Anand [00:08:14]:
Thank you.
Kelley [00:08:15]:
And thank you everybody for listening in and joining us. Remember to subscribe vibe to the Caring without a care podcast so that you can be a part of many conversations to come. We’ll see you next time.
