I want to preface this post by saying it’s mostly about questions, not answers. I’ve had many readers and acquaintances ask me about what’s been going on at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle. The short answer is: “I don’t…
Joining me today for Episode #204 is Paul Plsek, and we’re talking about his excellent book (a Shingo Research Award recipient this year) titled Accelerating Health Care Transformation with Lean and Innovation: The Virginia Mason Experience. Virginia Mason, of course,…
Yesterday’s PBS News Hour had a piece on the use of Lean and the Toyota Production System at Seattle’s Virginia Mason Medical Center:
Becker’s Hospital Review published a piece about the first 10 years of Lean at Seattle’s Virginia Mason Medical Center: 10 Years Later: Virginia Mason Production System Still Going Strong. The article highlights some of the reasons for the longevity of…
Here is a video from the St. Louis Beacon (actually, an NPR-style audio story with pictures) about Lean healthcare at Virginia Mason Medical Center, in Seattle, and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, in St. Louis. A few comments on what’s generally an excellent…
I’ve finally started reading the new book by Charles Kenney, Transforming Health Care: Virginia Mason Medical Center’s Pursuit of the Perfect Patient Experience, and I wanted to post a mini-review of the first three chapters. You can also buy (cheaper…
Joining me today for episode #357 is Michael Conroy, M.D., the Chief Medical Officer of Sutter Medical Group in northern California. Mike was previously the Medical Director of the Lean Promotion Office for the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and he…
Dr. Gary Kaplan is the CEO of Seattle’s Virginia Mason Medical Center, considered one of the world leaders in the adoption of Lean healthcare principles. He wrote the foreword for my book The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. He co-authored a recent…
TL;DR: Lean is often misunderstood. It’s not about rushing patients, cutting staff, or blindly installing tools. When practiced properly, Lean is fundamentally patient-centered, focused on safety, quality, and respect for people. When organizations have bad experiences, that usually reflects poor…
It might only be free (brief registration required) for a limited time, but there’s a great video of Dr. Kaplan (with his slides) talking about Lean and the challenges facing healthcare (content no longer available for free). In his introductory…
Virginia Mason Medical Center, a world-renowned leader in the application of Lean principles in healthcare, has a new blog: Virginia Mason Blog. They name blogs the way I do, simple and direct :-) One of their first posts highlights a…
A returning guest for episode #132, we are joined by author and professor Bob Emiliani. Today, we are chatting about some videos he recently posted to his website… 10-year-old videos that document executives from Virginia Mason Medical Center, now considered…
