Consultant Willem Teunissen of De Zorgondernemers, also known among colleagues as "Willem Waiting List," has working on issues related to care logistics. He also does this in cooperation with CODE24 - for our Admission24 module Willem's expertise is regularly deployed to map out and optimise the admission process 'from head to tail'.
When you spend a minute in conversation with Willem, it is clear: here speaks years of knowledge of and fascination with healthcare logistics. But how did this come about and what opportunities does he see for the optimisation of a (for many organisations) quite complicated process such as the admission process?
Hi Willem! Tell me, how did you actually get into healthcare?
"As a student of Technical Business Administration, my focus was actually always on logistics. My studies led me to Reinier van Arkel, where I took on the challenge of making the queues measurable. I eventually worked in other sectors, but I was still drawn to healthcare... especially mental health. I love sparring with smart, headstrong people, haha! In addition, you can really make an impact in healthcare, which also attracts me. I eventually wanted to make a difference independently and independently in healthcare logistics - so I started for myself."
As a 'Zorgondernemer' (healthcare entrepreneur), that is.
"Yes, De Zorgondernemers is actually a partnership of five driven freelancers in healthcare, each with their own expertise. Marleen is an ad-interim manager with a background in healthcare, with program manager Itske I often collaborate on product implementations, Christiaan is an advisor with more of a coaching role and Petra is a true HR specialist. We complement each other well."
And how did you get in touch with CODE24?
"Actually, it was first in connection with the deployment of your FACT board at Reinier van Arkel! I soon became acquainted with Martin then and we kept in touch. When I started working for myself, there was immediate interest in working together.
I found CODE24's concept interesting right away: partial modules, at a reasonable price. That's a good match with mental health, where budgets are often tight and you can quickly make a lot of impact with a good partial module (such as Admission24). In addition, you are very approachable and you keep exploring innovation, which is also pleasant to work with."
You really do specialize in healthcare logistics. Why does that attract you so much?
"From my background in logistics, I have always been of the opinion that making processes measurable is very important. Without data you're actually nowhere - because what exactly are you talking about? There is so much to be gained in healthcare logistics, it makes my hands itch. The processes are often quite complicated and not fully mapped out. I want insight into the entire process: from the patient experience to the secretary who processes the schedules and from the practitioner to the policy advisor. My job is largely communication."
What makes the recording process so complex?
"People often speak of a 'waiting list' - I prefer to speak of 'queues.' Within such an admission process, there are actually often several queues - they are just usually not transparent! The patient waits after registration, then again after scheduling, it may happen that instead of extramural, a patient is treated intramurally after all, or goes from regular to emergency or vice versa... All these steps have their own waiting times and queues. Yet it is often thought: once the patient is scheduled, it is off the waiting list. But that is not the patient's experience. When you do have all these queues mapped out and understand how the processes run, you can work on a predictive waiting time, from here you create steering for a better inflow and outflow and you can engage in optimised capacity management."
So how can digitalisation of this complex process be properly addressed?
"Make sure the project for digitalisation is carried from strategy and policy, not just from the IT department. The recording process touches so many facets of a organisation and to make real gains from digitizing the process, it must be broadly supported.
In addition, there is often a perception within organisation that there is no real urgency to digitize. The finances are in place, the beds are full, a certain way of working has been done for years - why change? People are actually often unconsciously incompetent about the fact of waiting for inpatient care. Ambulantization without keeping orderly track of the inpatient care waiting for sheltered housing and not adequately padding this outpatient care, ensures that urgency is not properly brought to the table. There has to be awareness then - there really is room for improvement and that urgency is there."
Where do you see the greatest opportunities?
"With data and training employees. The data is mostly simply not there now. Employees try to solve day-to-day problems but lack the necessary steering tools at the tactical and strategic levels. Positioning and training employees helps them become aware of the situation. Data is an important tool to then really get to work and make effects of other projects measurable.
We're never going to get all that historical data alone, unfortunately - so the important thing now is to make the processes measurable as soon as possible so that we have quality data at our disposal for analysis, research and informed conclusions. So I always recommend combining a module like Admission24 with DataWarehouse24 - that combination is powerful.
Also: organisations just need to start digitizing the recording process. There is no such thing as the "perfect" solution for your organisation, the "Rolls Royce. But there are plenty of solutions to make the process measurable and improve it. Other organisations have gone before you, there are rough 'blueprints' that are easy to fit - time to start getting the basics of the house in order."
Thanks for this nice interview, Willem!
"No problem!"