My Guest Article on Lean as an Alternative to Hospital Layoffs

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Thanks to FierceHealthcare.com for publishing my guest article on the front page of their site: “How lean management helped hospitals avoid layoffs.

The article features quotes from two of our Healthcare Value Network organizations, ThedaCare and Akron Children's Hospital, and two other outstanding hospitals, Denver Health and Avera McKennan.

You can read the full article on their site.

An excerpt:

Despite the common allegation that  lean improvement methods, based on the Toyota production system, must lead to layoffs at hospitals or health systems, the reality is quite different at several leading hospitals where lean methods are actually saving or creating jobs.

Traditionally, without or before the adoption of lean, healthcare organizations relied on  layoffs and service reductions to reduce costs and attempt to balance budgets. Lean provides an alternative, where a strengthened commitment to the workforce is repaid with continuous quality improvement, better patient care, and better financial performance for the organization

Read more:  How lean management helped hospitals avoid layoffs – FierceHealthcare http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/how-lean-management-helped-hospitals-avoid-layoffs/2010-10-01#ixzz1175krmqE

How lean management helped hospitals avoid layoffs


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Mark Graban
Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker, and podcaster with experience in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups. Mark's new book is The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation. He is also the author of Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More, the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, and the anthology Practicing Lean. Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.

6 COMMENTS

  1. Thanks Mark, this is an important elephant in the room. I’m working close to the neonatal icu gemba and I find people at the front line are very keen to rid the system of waste. Because waste is not what they signed up for. I made a little word video that speaks to this… and the front line is “up for it”. Just need the leaders to realize this and invest in it; the cutting is rampant and destructive.

    http://www.improvisionhealthcare.com/blog/10-10-04/Create_Value.aspx

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