Tag: ThedaCare

ThedaCare and Lean Healthcare Leadership

ThedaCare has long been regarded as one of the most influential examples of Lean thinking in healthcare. These posts explore what ThedaCare’s journey actually teaches leaders—about management systems, executive commitment, strategy deployment, culture change, and the fragility of improvement when leadership changes.

Rather than treating Lean as a set of tools or success stories frozen in time, this archive examines real lessons, missteps, evolution, and leadership reflections from ThedaCare and others who have studied or worked with the organization.

ThedaCare’s “Business Performance System” – and a 10% Target

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One of the most powerful thoughts in the book On the Mend: Revolutionizing Healthcare to Save Lives and Transform the Industry  (by John Toussaint...

A Nice Kaizen Example from the PACU

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"Kaizen" is a Japanese word that means "change for the better" in the context of ongoing "continuous improvement." The so-called "kaizen event," a weeklong...

Will Suggestion Boxes be a Trend in 2012? What Method(s) do...

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I saw this article the other day on BusinessInsider.com: "10 Predictions For How The Workplace Will Change In 2012." Two of the predictions caught my...

What’s Changed in Lean Healthcare Since 2008?

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It's been three years since the first edition  of my book Lean Hospitals: Improving Quality, Patient Safety, and Employee Engagement  was published. The second...

10 Years of Lean at Virginia Mason Medical Center; CEO Transition...

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Becker's Hospital Review published a piece about the first 10 years of Lean at Seattle's Virginia Mason Medical Center:  10 Years Later: Virginia Mason...

Lean Healthcare featured on PBS Nightly Business Report

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Friday night's PBS program the Nightly Business Report had a nice feature on the use of Lean at Good Samaritan Hospital in Downer's Grove,...

‘Moneyball’ Lessons – Listen to Your Front-Line Staff

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I loved the book  Moneyball by Michael Lewis, but I haven't seen the movie yet (I hear it's good -- Edit: It was GREAT). To...

“Healthcare Kaizen” Book Update – The Manuscript is Submitted!

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It's a project that my co-author, Joe Swartz, and I have been working on all year... the manuscript is finally complete and sent (as...

Why Does this Hospital CEO Have to Go Undercover? Or Does...

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Update: I edited the post title to add "Or Does He?" See the CEO's comment below, suggesting that the TV report gave the wrong...

ThedaCare’s CEO: “The Goal is Zero – The Target is Improvement”

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On his blog, John Toussaint shared this letter from ThedaCare CEO Dean Gruner to all employees. Toussaint said the letter is inspired by Paul...

Build, Measure, Learn – in Startups, Healthcare, and Careers

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One reason I love applying Lean thinking in new arenas as my career progresses is that each shift in industry leads to new challenges...

Collected Quality & Cost Results from Healthcare Value Network Members

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I was at the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value office a few months ago when Dr. John Toussaint reported that he had gotten a...
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