Thanks go to Hakan Forss, from Sweden, who sent me a link to an article he wrote about Lean, waste, and patient flow. He compares two healthcare systems – one where the focus is on keeping silo-ed resources busy (which leads to long patient delays) and one where the focus is primarily on patient flow through a value stream.
The piece also has some really cool visualizations done with LEGO blocks. Check it out!
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Mark Graban
Mark Graban's passion is creating a better, safer, more cost effective healthcare system for patients and better workplaces for all. Mark is a consultant, author, and speaker in the "Lean healthcare" methodology. He is author of the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, as well as The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. His most recent project is an book titled Practicing Lean that benefits the Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation, where Mark is a board member. Mark is also the VP of Improvement & Innovation Services for the technology company KaiNexus.
Thank you Mark. I’m glad you liked it.
The story is my free translation and adaptation of a similar story in the great book “Vad är Lean” by Niklas Modig and Pär Ã…hlström
I highly recommend this book too anyone who wants to learn more about Lean.The English version is due out soon.
For more info:
http://www.vadarlean.se