Using PICOS workshops to identify and eliminate waste

"Any human activity that absorbs resources but creates no value," says Maureen Bisognano of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, "is waste." At war with waste--in healthcare as well as in the automobile industry--is General Motors Corp. The battle plan is an accelerated change process known as PICOS. In a four-step, three-and-one-half-day workshop, GM facilitators work with teams from the healthcare organization to identify waste and plan ways to get rid of it. See if you can identify, within your organization, the seven types of waste they attack--then read about systems that have used PICOS successfully in battle.