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.
I wish I had shared this story when the video was still available (not sure why the TV station pulled it down) — in this link: “Freeman cheers staff ideas to improve hospital.” Freeman Health System, in Missouri, saved more…
If you’re a gambler and you take my post title literally, you might be thinking, “The odds? The odds are 1 in 7000, or 0.000142857143.” OK, you probably weren’t thinking that many significant digits, but what’s the point of 1…
Our good friend Matt May (see posts and podcasts about him here) has a new book coming out in October, The Laws of Subtraction: 6 Simple Rules For Winning In The Age Of Excess Everything, a follow-up to previous books,…
There’s a funny cartoon over at ONEFTE.com about suggestions and employee ideas. The post is titled “Where good ideas go to die.” One time in a hospital, a heard a team member say that about their suggestion box. The cartoon…
I received some really good questions from a reader, Nick, who has recently crossed industries to bring his Lean Manufacturing experience into healthcare. Since I thought the questions might lead to a good blog post, I’m going to address them…
Thanks to Dean Bliss for sending an article to me about some of the great Lean healthcare work taking place in Iowa. I’ve visited Iowa a number of times to give talks and visit hospitals and I know many of…
Listen: Episode #139 is a conversation with Dave Munch, MD, the Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer for Healthcare Performance Partners (HPP). Before joining the consulting firm, Dave was a senior C-level clinical leader at Exempla Lutheran Health System…
I’m happy to be participating in the ASQ “Influential Voices” blog series here in 2012. ASQ President Paul Borawski (listen to my podcast with him) writes about a topic each month and the group of bloggers all chime in. This…
Sunday’s keynote presenter at the 2012 Society for Health Systems conference was Dr. Stephen Markovich, the CEO of Riverside Methodist Hospital, a 1000+ bed hospital that is the flagship of the Ohio Health System. Dr. Markovich is not only both…
Hello from Las Vegas, where Monday is Day 2 of the outstanding Society for Health Systems annual conference. I presented Sunday about Healthcare Kaizen and my co-author Joe Swartz took Q&A with me. I took a lot of notes on…
Some of you might be familiar with the internet meme, spreading on Facebook especially, about “what people think of my profession” (as described in this Washington Post blog post). For example, see “what a contemporary artist does.” It’s all a…
Last Thursday’s Journal had a story titled “How to Be a Better Boss? Spend Time on the Front Lines.” The article talks about senior leaders going to see work being done at the front lines. Does this have to be…