Doctor Imbalances: Not What the Customer Needs  The healthcare
profession is facing serious issues of supply and demand for
doctors. I regard this as a lean issue because lean is all about
providing value to the customer. And if you are not producing
what the customer wants or needs, then something is wrong.
These thoughts are prompted, in part, by a recent article in the
journal Academic Medicine, published by the Association of
American Medical Colleges. The article describes the results of
a study by three doctors and a research assistant of six medical
school programs specifically designed to train doctors to work
in rural areas.  Rural areas, the article explains, face a
significant shortage of doctors.  Although one of every five
Americans (20%) lives in a rural area, only 9% of physicians
practice there. The scope of this problem is substantial,
because more than 20 million of the 60 million people residing
in rural areas live in federally designated Health Professional
Shortage Areas (HSPAs).  This r