A Week in The Netherlands
This week, I’ll be in The Netherlands for the first time since my visit in 2009. I was invited that first time by Marc Rouppe van der Voort to visit St. Elisabeth Hospital (where he worked at the time) and…
Tag Healthcare
Healthcare Improvement Through Lean, Leadership, and Learning
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.
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When a Question Is Actually a Directive
TL;DR: Not every question is actually a question. Some are directives, some are blame in disguise, and some are just declarative statements wearing a question mark. If you mean to say something directly, it’s usually more respectful to say it…
Why the New York Jets Failed Copying TCU’s Trick Play — Lessons for Lean and Leadership
Organizations try to copy each other all the time. It doesn’t always work. Manufacturing: A plant manager visits another factory and sees neatly organized tools and then comes home and tells everybody “to do 5S.” They’ve thoroughly missed the fact…
Free Webinar Tomorrow – #Lean & Daily Management by @KaiNexus
Tomorrow, at 1 pm Eastern, Dr. Greg Jacobson and I are giving a KaiNexus-sponsored webinar: Daily Management with KaiNexus: From Huddle Boards to Web-Based Technology I’ll be talking about daily Lean management practices, such as: Strategy deployment Process audits /…
How Many Die From Medical Mistakes in U.S. Hospitals?
Note: This is being republished, with permission, under a Creative Commons license. See the original ProPublica page and comments. by Marshall Allen ProPublica, Sep. 19, 2013, 10:03 a.m.by Charles Ornstein and Lena Groeger, ProPublicaby Dan Nguyen, Charles Ornstein and Tracy…
Kaizen Queens: How Throat Scopes and Applesauce Improved Care at Franciscan Health
During a recent visit to Franciscan St. Francis Health, several nurses proudly introduced themselves as “Kaizen Queens”–and one, with a smile, as the “Kaizen Princess.” Across the hospital, the broader term “Kaizeneer” is used to describe anyone who takes part…
Ebola – The Glaring Gap Between Staff Education and Proper, Effective Training
I saw this headline the other day: “U.S. Soldiers Get Just Four Hours of Ebola Training“ The phrase “just four hours” implies that it wasn’t enough. How do we know? Maybe four hours of training, done properly, is all that’s…
LinkedIn Post on Ebola and Everyday Healthcare Failures; A Brave Whistle-Blowing Nurse
I wrote about Ebola earlier this week and have been following the news closely. It’s a fascinating story on many levels, including many leadership failures. I wrote a piece for LinkedIn, written for a general public audience: A Lack of…
Talking About Breaches of Ebola Protocol is NOT “Blaming Nurses”
Note: Scroll down to see comments for additional links, articles, videos and discussion. As I’ve written about (here and here) poor systems, a lack of protocols, and not adhering to protocols and standard practices are almost always “system problems.” A…
Denver Jail’s Suggestion Box (and Problems) in the News
The Denver jail and its suggestion box program made the local news, thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request: “9 quotes from Denver Jail suggestion box” What do we see in the one image from the video, at left?…
Gemba Academy Interviews on Lean Hospitals, Healthcare Kaizen, & KaiNexus
Thanks to Ron Pereira and my other friends at Gemba Academy for interviewing me when I visited their studio a few weeks back. Gemba Academy has amazing online video education products that I highly recommend. Check them out. There are two…
Ebola & Systems & Processes: Can We Do Better? Can We Learn?
Yesterday, Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S. died in a Dallas hospital. As I’ve been following this story, I keep thinking about bad systems and bad processes. Sometimes, there’s a lack of planning and…
