A Brief Video Look into Lean at VIBCO
I may have shared this video before, but it’s worth taking a quick video peek into one of my favorite companies – VIBCO. When I was living in Boston, I had the pleasure of visiting the gemba a few times…
Year 2010
Avoiding the Risks of Using Glib Quotes in Patient Safety Discussions
Yesterday, I tweeted a quote about patient safety that I’ve seen posted on the wall or bulletin board in many hospitals: “To err is human, to cover up is unforgivable, and to fail to learn is inexcusable.” – Sir Liam…
Follow Up Q&A from “On the Mend” Webinar
The Lean Enterprise Institute has posted the follow up text Q&A by John Toussaint MD and Roger Gerard PhD, co-authors of the book On the Mend: Revolutionizing Healthcare to Save Lives and Transform the Industry. These were extra questions from…
Collected Quality and Patient Safety Improvement Statistics – #Lean Healthcare
I’m going to use this blog post / page to collect published statistics about the impact the Lean management philosophy has had on healthcare quality and patient safety. I will update this over time and this page can be accessed…
Avoid Charting Performance Measures in Confusing or Misleading Ways
Last month, I wrote a post titled “Consulting Case Studies Need Statistical Validity” where I discussed the need to show more than simple “before and after” numbers in case studies. I promised some follow up posts on his topic, so…
Don’t Speed Up or Improve a Workaround Process – Fix the System
Hospitals are full of workarounds and fire fighting, it’s a pretty common problem. That’s one reason cost is so high and quality is often so poor. One of the key insights that comes from introducing healthcare professionals to Lean concepts,…
Podcast #102 – Ron Wince, CEO of Guidon Performance Solutions – Lean Healthcare
My guest for Episode #102 is Ron Wince, the President/CEO of Guidon Performance Solutions. We talk here about his views on lean healthcare and the impact of healthcare reform on the healthcare landscape. Prior to founding Guidon, Ron held senior…
Weekend Fun: “Lean Gone Lego” Video
Here’s a fun stop-motion video – I presume it’s from Australia or New Zealand?? I don’t know the backstory of the video yet. It shows a before-and-after scenario of a factory before and after Lean.
Got Waste? Who Ya Gonna Call?
Last week, I gave the keynote talk at a hospital’s twice-yearly lean conference for leaders and staff. As part of the seasonal decorations around the room, they had large ghost cutouts, each labeled with one of the “8 types of…
Guest Post – Lean Myth: Lean is Stressful for Workers
Mark’s Note: Today’s post is by David Veech, the Executive Director of the Institute for Lean Systems. A fear or anxiety that people often have when they hear the term “lean” is that it will be a stressful environment, sort…
Financial Times Features “Lean Startup” Ideas That “Work for All”?
It was nice to read a recent Financial Times article featuring the concept of “Lean Startups” (“Lean start-up thinking that works for all“) and Eric Ries, who I’ll be interviewing soon for my LeanBlog podcast series. FT highlights “Lean” as…
Sick Hospitals Visitors, Stay Away. Sick Doc? A-OK?
There was an interesting blog post at the New York Times: “The Doctor Is In (but Shouldn’t Be).” The piece talks about the healthcare cultural aspects that would drive or pressure a doctor to come to the hospital or the…