Jim Womack: “Tipping Point” for Lean Healthcare?
I'm still catching up on things I wanted to blog about related to our Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit that we held June 9 and 10. It was an amazing event and something we're looking forward to duplicating – improving and expanding – in 2011 (click for the Healthcare Value Leaders main page that has a link for registering for more information).
In conjunction with the Summit, Jim Womack published his most recent e-letter titled “The Tipping Point?”
Since LEI doesn't really have an easy way for readers to comment publicly about the e-letters, I'll take initiative to open that discussion here, since I'm curious to hear what people's reactions were.
Jim ended his letter with this:
Despite the hurdles ahead I'm now hopeful that the availability of proved lean methods will push providers past the tipping point on the journey to lean healthcare, now that all the easy fixes have failed and there is no other option.
What do you say?
To speak of “The Tipping Point” is interesting to me. Because even though there seems to be more widespread use of the tools, there still seems to be a very short list of those taking a “deep dive” such as Thedacare and Virginia Mason. Without more taking this approach it seems to me that the true, “Tipping Point” is still a ways off. My reasoning is that the government is still pouring money into our organizations at a rapid rate which puts off the true burning platform for one to undertake such a huge challenge as a deep dive into Lean.