How One Health System Got Rid of Bureaucratic Busywork

Technological progress and new digital products have perennially been relied upon for improving operations. But the truth is, tech can often make bureaucracy worse. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) were hailed as a cure to the inefficiency of paper-based systems. But studies now reveal that doctors spend half of their time managing EHRs and desk work, shortchanging patients and fueling burnout. Dr. Melinda Ashton at Hawaii Pacific Health (HPH) proposed a simple and radical solution: Get Rid of Stupid Stuff (GROSS). She and HPH staff designed a simple form for reporting tasks that were poorly designed, unnecessary, or just made no sense. Simple fixes get implemented directly, more involved improvements get reviewed by the relevant groups for feasibility. With focused leadership and follow-through, GROSS has led to saving thousands of hours across the HPH system and to other health systems adopting the practice.