Book excerpt: Synchrony is the ability of a healthcare process to control the pace of the physician process and the pace of the patient process such that the physician and patient are ready for each other at the same time, without waste or delay. When a process achieves synchrony, the patient does not wait for the doctor, nor does the doctor wait for the patient. Dr. Dennis Han is an ophthalmologist specializing in diseases of the retina at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Froedtert Memorial Hospital; Aneesh Suneja is an engineer and lean consultant who worked with Dr. Han to transform his practice. With the help of Suneja, Han’s patients experienced an 85% reduction in non-value added wait times, and a corresponding 97% “top box” rating on patient satisfaction surveys (“strongly agree to recommend this doctor’s office to others”). Financially, his practice saw a 25% year-over-year increase in relative value units (RVU) production and a 41% increase in payments due to increased physician availability. If you are a physician, clinic manager, administrator, technician, or provider of health services in a clinic setting, you can use the guidelines described in this book to effect a transformation as well.