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.
Hospitals combat errors at the ‘hand-off’ I’ve blogged before about how handoffs in a process create opportunities for errors. I wrote about a trivial situation where I got the wrong muffin and Seth Godin wrote about getting the right breakfast…
Today’s Detroit News wrote about lean in healthcare, this time in their own beloved University of Michigan system. Titled “U-M Hospital Takes Page from Toyota,” it starts out with a flaw, stating: “U-M is one of the first medical centers…
Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Overseas transcription errors ‘putting patients’ lives at risk’ It’s not news that many hospitals are strapped for cash. It’s frustrating to see hospitals take the traditional “mass production” mentality of focusing on cost…
Hospitals move to cut dangerous lab errors Here is a free version of a WSJ article from last week. I know I’ve been posting about “lean healthcare” a lot this week, I hope that is of interest to the manufacturing…
MedQIC – Patient-Centered Care Supported by an EHR The link above (and this audio-video presentation with similar content) tell an amazing story of a private practice family physician who has a “single patient flow” process in his office. This doctor…
Drug in Fatal Medical Error A Known Hazard in Hospitals | theledger.com Here is another sad example of the need for lean methods for quality improvement in healthcare. The story here is about a pregnant woman who died after being…
Curious Cat Management Improvement: Lean National Health System There’s a link on John’s blog to a Dan Jones presentation, along the lines of the British NHS lean initiative. It includes the classic Toyota thinking: “We get brilliant results from average…
Bloated NHS to get the Tesco treatment – Britain – Times Online: Thanks to Rob G. (from the UK) for pointing this out to me. There’s a great push for lean in the UK NHS. It’s even getting attention from…
BCNG Portals Page I’ve posted “lean healthcare” articles here about what’s described by the media as “ER congestion.” They always describe the sad situation where patients are kept in the ER hallway for a day or two before they can…
Study: Doctors Don’t Wash Hands Enough Over the weekend, in a trade publication, I read yet another survey about MD’s (especially surgeons) not washing their hands in between patients (under 60% of doctors). That’s not just a matter of being…
Monongahela Valley Hospital Integrates Automatic Tracking in Emergency Department to Enhance Patient Experience; Busy ED Uses Wireless Technology to Reduce Average Patient Visit Length Where there’s a problem, there’s always a software solution (and salesperson) waiting around the corner. The…
So I’m trying to find a dermatologist to schedule an appoint (no it’s nothing serious). What amazes me is that all of the dermatologists in a reasonable driving distance have no open appointments until September or October. Talk about the…
