An Interview with Samantha Parrett: NC State Vet Hospital's Dive Into Lean

I am especially pleased to present this edition of leanvets.com for a couple of reasons.

1)  It is the first podcast for me. Hopefully, others will follow in the future as subject material arises. I debated whether to present this blog as a written interview or as a phone interview. Mark Graban, my “partner in crime” for this thing, convinced me to try a podcast and said he would set it up, which he did. Thank you (again), Mark. (This is also being "simul-blogged" on Mark’s wonderful site, LeanBlog.org). I am so glad we did it this way. I want everyone to appreciate the enthusiasm and confidence about this Lean veterinary success that Samantha brought to the interview, which wouldn’t have been so apparent had we done this in a written, email format.

2) This references, to my knowledge, the first published report of the Lean philosophy and methodologies being applied in the veterinary practice arena. AND… it was very successful.  It has been very difficult trying to educate my profession on the merits of Lean. We’re a stubborn lot, at times. “It may work for building cars and even for human hospitals, but this is veterinary medicine. We’re different! Show me the proof it will work in our profession.”, everyone would say. Well, here’s at least one report that indicates veterinary medicine can benefit from Lean, the same as everyone else who has made the commitment to give it an honest trial.

Our guest today is Samantha Parrett. She is the Director of  Business & Administrative Services for North Carolina State Veterinary Hospital. I first came across NC State’s story, “NC State Vet College Dives Into Lean,” last summer while Mark and I were preparing our lecture for the 2016 TVMA Convention and Expo. I have been waiting eagerly for the opportunity to learn more ever since.

There are several points I would like to draw your attention to. 

First, is the enthusiasm and conviction that comes from trying Lean and experiencing the success that can be realized from Lean. 

Second, Sam mentions many of the Lean concepts and “tools” that we have tried to explain here at LeanVets.com. This demonstrates the “real world” applications of these methods. 

Thirdly, the problem of getting more of the surgeries performed during the normal business hours which had been unsuccessfully remedied for a number of years, finally found some success through Lean. 

And lastly, the positive effect the Lean mindset has had on the staff, doctors and, even, students at NC State Veterinary Hospitals. Lean works...even in veterinary medicine!

Thank you for listening. Here is Ms. Samantha Parrett’s interview.



To read a transcript of the interview,  click here.