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.
Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority Supports ‘National Patient Safety Day’ – Press Releases – CNBC.com I was walking through Boston Common this morning and saw a woman with a homemade sign that said something about patient safety. I stopped her and…
Thought I’d share this here on the blog even though many of you might have gotten an email from Helen Zak at the LEI about this: Dear Mark, No doubt you’ve heard and read a lot about the debate in…
Lean Leap to Health Care #8 (click for Part #7) by Scott McDuffee “When a baby is born, a pleasant chime can be heard throughout the hospital and smiles come across the faces of all who hear.” Now dated, I…
I blogged earlier about the Obama administration’s announcement that the healthcare industry is promising $2 Trillion in savings (reduced cost increases) over the next 10 years. Hooray, we set a goal. The announcements were light on how to do this……
Health-Care Providers Pledge to Try to Curb Costs – WSJ.com Industry reps offer $2 trillion in health savings You’ve likely seen headlines today about a meeting at the White House (ah, more meetings!) where the health care industry has agreed…
Lean Enterprise Academy Events; Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit 2009 I’m fortunate that I’ll be attending this July summit in London, run by Dan Jones and the UK-based Lean Enterprise Academy. If you’re attending, be sure to let me know so…
Why ‘Quality’ Care Is Dangerous – WSJ.com Yesterday’s WSJ opinion piece by Dr. Jerome Goopman (author of How Doctors Think) and Pamela Hartzband caught my eye. Thanks to the four or five of you who also emailed me the link…
Hospitals See Benefits of Lean and Six Sigma Regular readers know I often write about what I termed “L.A.M.E.” — Lean as Misguidedly Executed. The ASQ (American Society for Quality) survey that I linked to at the top probably just…
Once again, our guest for Episode #62 is John S. Toussaint, MD, the CEO emeritus of ThedaCare, and CEO of the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value. Dr. Toussaint is very well known for his leadership of the Lean efforts in…
TRANSCRIPT: Obama’s Inaugural Address: I guess this is a “mashup” of sorts… between Dr. W. Edwards Deming and President Obama… The President said yesterday, in his inauguration speech: “We will … wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and…
It seems like all we’re hearing now is layoffs, layoffs, layoffs. This article reports that Danaher, considered by many to be the best Lean company outside of Toyota (with its famed Danaher Business System), is laying off employees. Danaher Corp (DHR,…
In this early Lean Blog Podcast episode, John Toussaint reflects on how culture change and collaborative care shaped ThedaCare’s healthcare transformation. Our guest for Episode #54 is John S. Toussaint, MD, the CEO emeritus of ThedaCare, and CEO of the…
