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.
Children’s Hospital is going lean – The Business Journal of Milwaukee: Wisconsin is a state that seems to have a disproportionate amount of Lean activity (as does Iowa). There are many good Lean manufacturers and ThedaCare is often held up…
Health care fix a joint effort | Postcrescent.com | Appleton Post-Crescent: I’m happy to announce a future podcast with John Toussaint, release date TBD. If you have any questions for him about the Lean efforts at ThedaCare or his new…
Ariens Co. clears a path for 75 years | Appleton Post-Crescent Considering Ariens was an inspiration for one of the leading Lean hospitals (ThedaCare), that’s a huge contribution to the Lean world (and society, in general). This article doesn’t go…
Again, the main site for my book is www.leanhospitalsbook.com. I have some exciting new endorsements, including from John Touissant. I’m thrilled he would be so generous after reading a preview copy: “Mark Graban’s book has documented what is now happening…
JS Online: Tending to improvements in health care Here’s a nice overview article about the Lean efforts of the ThedaCare health system in Wisconsin. Some highlights: ThedaCare estimates that its work to improve efficiency in 2005 and 2006 cut costs…
Appleton Post-Crescent: Your Fox Cities News Source – ThedaCare CEO takes new job ThedaCare is one of the recognized leaders in the use of Lean and the Toyota Production System in hospitals. He has resigned as CEO of the health…
Leadership Symposium (Iowa) It sure seems like Iowa gets mentioned here on the blog quite a bit, for lean manufacturing and lean healthcare. John Touissant, of ThedaCare (in Wisconsin), is speaking at an Iowa healthcare symposium April 22 (unfortunately, it…
Oshkosh Northwestern – Systems turn to ThedaCare There’s a great sense of community and sharing in the hospital space — something the manufacturing world can learn from, I think. Sure, it’s possible to spend your whole career working in a…
From the Association for Manufacturing Excellence, of which I’m a proud member. I wish my schedule allowed me to attend this event: LEAN IN HEALTHCARE ON DISPLAY AT AME WORKSHOP FEATURING THEDACARE Neenah, Wisconsin, August 21, 2007 – Those interested…
John Toussaint, M.D. – Profile From the University of Iowa alumni site, here’s a nice Q&A with one of the leading advocates for Lean in healthcare, Dr. John Toussaint, CEO of ThedaCare, which is mentioned often here on the Lean…
ThedaCare program gets boost ThedaCare has already been seen as a leader in applying lean to hospitals, but its good to see they are continuing their efforts after three years. It’s also nice to see a manufacturer (Miller Electric) partnering…
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…