By now you’ve probably heard about some big bills paid by the Wall government on “lean” health care consultants.

Critics have taken some of the more questionable bills associated with the spending and suggested the project is a colossal waste of money. But how does the big picture look? Well, internal government documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation suggest things actually look pretty good so far.

Before discussing what the documents revealed, it should be noted that the Wall government is doing the right thing by looking at ambitious ways to reform the health care system.

The bottom line is that unless the health care system undergoes serious reform, it will collapse in the long run as our population ages. A report by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries in late 2013 predicted that unless there is significant health reform, health care spending will grow to represent “103 percent” of total provincial revenues by 2037. In other words, “yikes.”

Those complaining about the government’s lean consultants should know that “lean” process reform is not something dreamed up by the Wall government, it’s taught in management schools around the world. In fact, even Manitoba’s NDP government is busy implementing lean practices in health care.

The internal documents we obtained suggest things are actually heading in the right direction. As of February 2014, $26 million had been spent on lean consultants while $40 million had been saved due to their advice, assistance and workshops.

Further, lean process changes have not only reduced costs, they’ve improved service levels in many areas for patients.

For example, lessons learned from consultant workshops have led to changes at the X-ray division at the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon. While patients used to wait “over an hour” for service, they now only have to wait only “22 minutes.” And if you’re trying to register for a pediatric appointment in Saskatchewan, registration time is down from “8 minutes” to just “2 minutes.”

Using new technology and redesigning workplaces have led to many of these improvements. In one example, the analysis noted that “moving the location of patient chart and supplies closer to the patient room” led to a reduction in nurses’ walking distance from 300 to 132 feet. This resulted in “less time searching for supplies and increased opportunity for direct patient care.”

Similarly, the Saskatchewan Disease Control Laboratory was able to “cut turnaround time for test results by 26 hours; a 68% reduction (from approximately 40 hours to 12 hours)” by redesigning their processes. This led to patients waiting shorter periods of time to hear lab results.

The documents also note that prior to a workshop involving Saskatoon Cancer Clinic staff, a housekeeper was “able to clean 2.7 infection control rooms per hour.” After the workshops, things were restructured so that productivity increased to “3.15 infection control rooms” per hour.

Make no mistake, the Wall government’s ambitious lean project is probably not perfect; no massive reform ever is. But there are plenty of signs things are heading in the right direction. Even if the critics don’t want to admit it.