Healthcare improvement isn’t about working harder—it’s about better systems, better leadership, and a culture that supports learning and speaking up. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and reflections on Lean healthcare, patient safety, quality improvement, leadership, and continuous improvement. Many of these posts draw on real hospital experiences and lessons from Deming, Toyota, and frontline healthcare teams, with a consistent emphasis on respect for people and learning from mistakes.
‘Bundling’ hospital processes may help prevent infections – USATODAY.com “Bundling hospital processes” = Standardized Work Why isn’t every hospital doing this? Why isn’t every hospital administrator making sure this is happening? The IHI [Institute for Healthcare Improvement] defines bundling as…
Jay Parkinson, MD. A doctor in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Manhattan HIStalk Interviews Jay Parkinson MD MPH, House Call Doctor Posts will be pretty sparse and short the next few days, as I’ll be in New York City through Sunday, busy…
Just an update for those who were following the progress of my book on “Lean Hospitals.” It’s done! I have submitted the manuscript to the publisher (Productivity Press, a division of Taylor & Francis). UPDATE (7/9/08): The book is due…
The Informed Patient – WSJ.com Good column in the WSJ today, as always, from Laura Landro. She writes about the need for patients to take an active role in their care and their own safety. I’ll try to keep with…
A Lifesaving Checklist – New York Times A number of you have emailed me, yes I’m aware of this horrible, ridiculous development that followed earlier reports of the success hospitals were having in reducing infections and improving patient care through…
This is compelling video (scroll down), radio and TV talk show host Glenn Beck, talking about his surgery gone “horribly awry” and how “phenomenally bad” his hospital care was (not sure what the procedure was, but it was planned and…
Memphis Daily News – Le Bonheur’s New Treatment-Speeding System Ups Productivity by 54 Percent – 12/11/2007 Here’s a news story about a hospital I know people from, LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis. I am have some examples of their in…
TWI Blog Thanks to Bryan for sending this along. The link above is to his site, which has a link to a PDF file that is the healthcare adaptation of the “Job Instruction” method in the old (but revitalized) Training…
Blundering hospitals ‘kill 40,000 a year’ – Britain – Times Online: Ah, gaming the numbers… everyone’s favorite pastime. It certainly is here in the State, even though I have my second story of the year related to gaming the numbers…
New Yorker – Dr. Atul Gawande Here is an outstanding piece by one of my favorite medical writers, on the use of checklists (a form of Standardized Work) to improve healthcare quality. How can “a stupid little checklist” have such…
If you’re a regular reader, you might recall the Cedar-Sinai medical error that harmed Dennis Quad’s twins (and others). Quaid and his wife are now suing the maker of the drug, Baxter, claiming the company is negligent for not designing…
If you’ve been following any of the posts about healthcare, here are a few interesting follow ups. Following up on this post about Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, CEO Paul Levy posted many interesting employee responses to his email…
