Hospital Badge – Be Patient
Lean Leap to Health Care #5 (click for Part #4) by Scott McDuffee Why do we call a customer a patient in Health Care? Is it because the customer must be patient given all the waiting? After almost two months…
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All posts from Mark Graban’s LeanBlog.org, including podcasts, announcements, articles, and more.
Does Toyota Use Six Sigma? (And No, Six Sigma Didn’t Start at Toyota)
No. Toyota’s factories do not run a formal Six Sigma program, and they do not hand out belts. What Toyota does teach, broadly and without much ceremony, is basic quality control and statistical thinking, the kind of tools that predate…
A Word from the Lean Blog Sponsors
Dear Lean Blog Readers: I try hard to not bombard you with commercial messages, but I do want to take a minute to recognize three of the sponsors that allow me to bring these free resources to you, like the…
Management Improvement Carnival #62
It’s once again my pleasure to host the Carnival for John Hunter and his Curious Cat blog. There are many excellent and thought provoking posts from the past month. I hope you’ll discover a new blog or two (or new…
My Notes on the ‘Oprah’ Episode with Dennis Quaid About Medical Mistakes
So I’m finally watching the DVR-ed episode from March 10, 2009, that gave widespread exposure to the issue of medical mistakes. Oprah began the show by citing the statistic that errors cause more deaths than “breast cancer, AIDS, and car…
One Place Lean Probably Doesn’t Apply
I’m in New Orleans, presenting this morning at a medical laboratory industry conference, giving a talk about how Lean isn’t just a set of tools or a cost-cutting methodology — it’s a management system, a culture, and (maybe most importantly)…
Hospital Coach
Lean Leap to Health Care #4 (click for Part #3) by Scott McDuffee “Hey Coach Mike, what have you been up to?” I had been sitting at my “second office,” which will remain nameless, though their symbol is an American…
Standardization Vs. Accuracy @ Starbucks
Maybe *$ mgmt IS dumb, they put the “get a coffee and egg san… on Twitpic I visited my local hometown Starbucks the other day and saw their promotional sign that’s in every Starbucks — get a coffee and sandwich…
This is Broken = This is Waste
Seth Godin at Gel 2006 on Vimeo I really enjoy Seth Godin’s writing, his books (including this one I recently read: Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us) and blog posts. His presentations are outstanding too. In this talk, he…
It’s That Season Again – the 2009 Lean Conference (Networking) Marathon
By Adam Zak, Adam Zak Executive Search: From now through early November we—Äôre on the road again, meetin—Äô and greetin—Äô our Lean colleagues from around the country. Morning mail brought a reminder that it—Äôs that season again. Yes, time to…
Revisiting Handwashing, Time, Systems, and Blame
I’ve struck a chord with a few nurses with this post from late last year: Why Do Hospitals Have to Rely on Vigilant Patients and Families? I asked: I’ve written before about my questions of why so many hospitals abdicate…
Doofus and Leanie Cartoon #1 – Gemba
Back in February, I did a parody of a “Goofus and Gallant” cartoon, if you remember them from “Highlights for Kids” magazine that was in every doctor’s office and dentist’s waiting room. I was having some concerns about copyright infringement,…
