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.
Hardwiring Excellence by Quint Studer As I continue my journey in lean healthcare, I’m enjoying the chance to learn about the cultures of healthcare organizations. One book I’ve started reading could easily apply to lean efforts in any setting. The…
theledger.com Talk about not learning from your mistakes. There are so many simple ways of error proofing surgery, including having procedures in place to confirm the right patient is on the table and that the right surgery is about to…
Here is a great example of error proofing that I’ve never seen before. It’s springtime, so my allergies have been killing me, especially after mowing the lawn on Saturday. I went and got a prescription for Allegra and received the…
I always thought manufacturing people were early risers. In my last manufacturing job, the factory started production at 5 AM and I started most days at 6:30 AM (I was an internal lean consultant). I sometimes surprised the teams by…
I’m watching a web presentation on improving patient flow from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). I’m doing lean healthcare work now and the IHI is an excellent resource, including Steve Spear, formerly of Harvard (and referenced by Mike Lopez…
kare11.com :: KARE 11 TV – Auto concept drives Park Nicollet strategy In the news once again, Park Nicollet Hospital in Minnesota is getting media attention for its lean efforts. They claim a $15 million savings over the past two…
kare11.com :: KARE 11 TV – Auto concept drives Park Nicollet strategy Here’s a nice article about a hospital that is getting recognition within the medical community for their lean work. Please check out my main blog page at www.leanblog.org…
Appleton Post-Crescent – Finding a better way Another article on a hospital organization that has been working on lean transformation. An earlier article is found here. Please check out my main blog page at www.leanblog.org The RSS feed content you…
According to this article (link has been misplaced), ThedaCare has been modeling the Toyota Production System to implement lean for the last 2 years. There is some explanation of what ThedaCare terms ‘Rapid Improvement Events’ where a cross functional team…
Keys to Safer Hospitals – Health For Life – MSNBC.com Blog reader Mike R. Lopez, from Albuquerque, NM found this and sent it my way for posting. Thanks! Dr. Donald Berwick, a doctor at Harvard Medical School, wrote a story…
USATODAY.com – Your health You have to scroll down to see this on USA Today’s site, so here’s the whole article with my commentary. The idea of taking a water gun into your hospital room with you seems funny, if…
Local manufacturer touts lean procedures – 2005-12-01 Here’s an article from Charlotte NC that mentions lean success stories in a factory and a local hospital. Gastonia-based CaroMont Health began implementing lean techniques in 2004 and has saved thousands of dollars…
