Fly-fishing, one of my favorite hobbies, is a lot like process improvement. Here’s how: Fly-fishing seems very simple—you throw a line in the water and wait for dinner. Of course, it’s much more complicated than that because rainbow trout are clever; they won’t bite just anything.

You have to know what lures they will strike, the speed of the stream, and the time of the year. You have to use the correct flies, the correct weight of line, and the right leaders. Your casting technique has to be smooth and practiced. You won’t catch many trout without knowledge and information, and you won’t improve processes in a health system without them, either.

On the surface, a health system seems straightforward. Sick people come in, a dedicated staff assesses and treats them, they go home healthy, and the system gets paid. As you know, it’s quite a bit more complicated than that. A health system typically functions with hundreds of operational and financial processes, with the goal of delivering better care to individuals, better health for populations, and lower costs for healthcare overall.

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