When hospital people say they don’t want to be a factory or “we don’t want assembly-line medicine,” the statement often goes unchallenged. What is the statement or the anxiety behind such a statement? I sometimes challenge in a friendly way…
I recently “fired” my primary care physician. I’m lucky to not have to go to the doctor very often, but the last few times I did, I had to wait more than an hour beyond my scheduled appointment time (in…
In the news yesterday, a General Motors recall over what could be just one isolated steering wheel problem in an Ohio-built Chevrolet (don’t call it Chevy) Cruze. Most news stories, like this one, about the recall just mention that one…
Jim Womack explains why real gemba walks–not management strolls–are essential for lean leadership, and why healthcare leaders must change behavior to improve systems and outcomes. In Episode #116 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast, Mark Graban talks with Jim Womack,…
One of my projects with LEI and the Healthcare Value Network is a podcast series I am hosting featuring leaders from our various Network member organizations. I don’t have a LeanBlog Podcast this week, but if you are listening for…
Coming off of an outstanding 2011 Lean Transformation Summit (blog posts to come), John Toussaint, MD, is doing a huge favor for the Dallas-Fort Worth area (my home). John has stayed over to participate in a meeting we are holding…
I’m happy to announce some details for a project I’m involved with – Registration is now open for the 2nd annual Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit, produced by the Lean Enterprise Institute and the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value, to be…
Those of you who know my background know that I spent the first 10 years of my career working in various manufacturing sectors (including GM, Dell, and Honeywell). I moved into healthcare in 2005, part of the wave of people…
I found this lengthy series of articles from the Las Vegas Sun, published under the heading of “Do No Harm: Hospital Care in Las Vegas.” The series serves as a good introduction to those who are new to healthcare and…
Just before the new year, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch featured the Lean efforts at Barnes-Jewish Hospital (“St. Louis hospital among handful using efficiency to aid patients“). I think it’s more than a “handful” of hospitals around the world using Lean…
Happy New Year! Today, I will have two posts that are embarrassingly self referential. Then back to normal stuff tomorrow. My main announcement is that I’m happy to say that I am working on a revised edition of my Shingo…
Following up my notes from Day 1, I’m sharing my notes from the second full day I attended on Wednesday, December 8 2010. Here, in the last day of the IHI National Forum on Quality Improvement in Healthcare, I saw…
