Tour a Lean Hospital with AME

AME – The Association For Manufacturing Excellence

Looks like a great event that AME is running up in Seattle.

Virginia Mason has a great reputation as one of the leaders in the lean healthcare world.

Here are some articles about them:

From the IHI: Virginia Mason Medical Center Implements Lean Management Principles to Drive Out Waste
To make its processes “lean,” this hospital took a page from the Japanese car industry
Toyota gives Virginia Mason docs a lesson in lean
Lean and healthy

If you’re a manufacturer, don’t think you can’t learn from healthcare. Touring a hospital would certainly stretch your view of lean. Many hospitals are really embracing the cultural and problem-solving aspects of lean, something that is universal. If healthcare can learn from manufacturing, then certainly manufacturing can learn from healthcare.

About LeanBlog.org: Mark Graban is a consultant, author, and speaker in the “lean healthcare” methodology, focused on improving quality and patient safety, improving access, reducing costs, and fully engaging healthcare professionals. He is also the Chief Improvement Officer for KaiNexus.