As regular readers know, I’m working on a second book: Healthcare Kaizen: Engaging Front-Line Staff in Sustainable Improvements. My co-author, Joe Swartz, and I have many examples of “daily kaizen” that will be shared in the book. The idea isn’t…
Podcaster Cali Lewis (a fellow DFW-area Texan) hosts a show called GeekBeat.tv, where she normally highlights new consumer tech gadgets and nerdy robots from MIT. Her most recent video features video from her visit to Boeing and their 737 assembly…
It’s great to see Lean mentioned in mainstream healthcare management publications, such as the article in HealthLeaders (print and online) called “Systemwide Process Improvement.” The article highlights one hospital you might know really well, Seattle’s Virginia Mason Medical Center (featured…
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…
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…
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…
This is just my second time attending the annual Institute for Healthcare Improvement annual forum – one of about 6,000 medical professionals, leaders, and patient advocates in attendance. For those of you on Twitter, I’ve seen familiar faces here, including…
I’m really excited about these two books coming out later this year — both from innovative leading lean healthcare organizations in Seattle. What’s in the water in Seattle? Actually, it’s more a matter of the Boeing influence, with the spread…
TL;DR: The New York Times showed that Lean healthcare isn’t about “factory medicine,” but about removing waste so clinicians can focus on patients. When grounded in respect for people and strong leadership, Lean improves quality, access, and cost–while misapplied versions…
This linked article (“Lean cuts Healthcare Costs at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle“) summarizes improvements and Lean methods at Seattle’s Virginia Mason Medical Center and at the UK NHS Royal Bolton Trust hospital. Much of the VMMC story has been…
Blogs or podcasts about lean healthcare or those that cover lean topics at least some of the time: Lean Blog – Healthcare Posts (Mark Graban) Lean Vets (Chip Ponsford, DVM and Mark Graban) Virginia Mason Blog (Virginia Mason Medical Center) Catalysis…
As I had alluded to the other day, there was a huge investigative piece that ran across the country Sunday in the Hearst Newspapers. The main URL for the series is www.DeadByMistake.com. You can read all of the articles at…
