Dr. Gary Kaplan, the CEO of Virginia Mason Medical Center is now part of an effort called “Health CEOS for Health Reform“. He posted a video on YouTube talking about health reform, framing some of it in a “lean” or Toyota Production System perspective.
For more on the “Virginia Mason Production System,” click here for a quick overview.
Key points:
- Need to stop complaining and take action
- The path to better quality and safety is the same as the path to reduced cost
- Our system is so full of waste (non-value-added activities), need to systematically reduce and eliminate that waste
- Policy makers should think big and get honest about what's possible
- Improvement is not coming from a technological arms race
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Mark, thanks for this post. In a word: leadership–critical for transformation. I think all lean practitioners should strive to be aware of C-level perspectives to provide context, align actions and provide a basis for informed dialogue and engagement.