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.
In the news: Charges against nurse igniting a debate This case — involving Wisconsin nurse Julie Thao — is still referenced in debates about whether medical professionals should face criminal charges for unintentional errors. A Fatal Medication Error — and…
Before any of you give a knee jerk reaction about how “pull is good, push is bad” — I agree with you… pull is better than push. For manufacturing. In a factory, a “push” system pushes production and inventory along…
I give many lean overview presentations to healthcare audiences. While I mostly talk about the application of lean concepts to healthcare (problem-solving, improving flow, leveling workloads, reducing waste… pretty universal concepts), I do acknowledge that Lean originated in manufacturing. It…
This post is partly in tribute to Peter and his Little’s Law blogging at shmula.com (it’s not all Little’s Law all the time, however). More on Little’s Law at wikipedia. Or check out the excellent textbook Factory Physics for even…
Hospital-acquired infections take toll on bottom lines – USATODAY.com One of the problems that hospitals are trying to reduce, through lean methods and other good standard practices, is hospital-acquired infections — known as “nosocomial infections.” Obviously, health providers have incentives…
London Hospital Gets Tips From Auto Racers, From Pit Stops To Operating Tables, Doctors Learn From Grand Prix Racing – CBS News Thanks to Bill Hanover for sending the above article. The WSJ also had an article about hospitals learning…
Sharing thoughts, ideas and suggestions on hardwiring success I’ve written before about former hospital CEO and healthcare consultant Quint Studer and his amazing book “Hardwiring Excellence.” I think it’s a great book even for manufacturing folks. Quint now has a…
Businesses may move health care overseas – Yahoo! News I’m by no means a protectionist, nor do I automatically think any doctors or hospitals outside the U.S. would automatically be inferior… But, that said, I’m VERY uncomfortable with the idea…
… and the system sucks!” That was the final line of a recent episode of ER that we just watched last night (thanks to the DVR). The major focus of the episode was a patient in court with a claim…
Healthcare Efficiency: Lean and Mean Here is a short blog piece on the American Society for Quality website, written by a doctor. It’s positive about lean, which makes me cringe at the ole’ “Lean and Mean” title. I presume that…
Ark. Hospital, Surgeon Sued For Performing Unnecessary Heart Surgeries When I teach lean overview training in healthcare settings, it’s often tough to find examples of the Waste of “Overprocessing,” one of the types of waste that Toyota has defined and…
This has always been a problem in the manufacturing world — companies selecting equipment that is “biggest, fastest, and cheapest” (or at least “cheapest” in terms of unit cost). To be cheapest, the machine usually has a giant batch size,…
