As I wrote about in Healthcare Kaizen, one of my favorite Lean transformation stories is the realization of an experienced medical technologist, John, that Lean leadership was about being “a coach, not a cop.” He had repeatedly said “no” to…
There have been plenty of headlines and updates since I first blogged about the controversy over Lean healthcare in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan (see my previous posts here). From my outside perspective, there are some good things happening. I…
I recently saw a tweet that referenced a May 2014 that was sent to President Obama and his administration: “Report to the President – Better HealthCare and Lower Costs: Accelerating Improvement Through Systems Engineering.” The report was written by the “President’s Council…
Today is the first day of the 5th annual Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit. Follow along on Twitter with hashtag #HCSummit14 to see my tweets and thoughts from others. I will be adding updates to this post during the day, as well. These are not…
This article caught my eye over at Becker’s Hospital Review: “The Hospital CEO Dilemma: Abandon Ship or Change Leadership Style,” written by Shirley Engelmeier, Founder and CEO of InclusionINC. She has a great list of leadership characteristics for modern hospital CEOs…
I am an unabashed fan of the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value, as you’re probably aware. For full disclosure, I was previously an employee of the Lean Enterprise Institute, a key partner of the Center. They have a lot of…
I hope you’ll consider coming to the 5th annual Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit, being held in Los Angeles, June 4th and 5th, 2014. The Summit is sponsored by the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value and the Lean Enterprise Institute. It’s…
I recently stumbled across a very interesting and well-produced mixed-media presentation that starts with the sounds of snow crackling under a pair a boots… a video clip that illustrates Delvecchio Finley, the CEO of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, making a snowy trip…
In the Lean methodology, building upon the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming, we work hard to shift away from “naming, blaming, and shaming.” Dr. John Toussaint is one of many who provide alternatives to the “blame and shame” approach…
Here’s an excellent commentary by Ashish K. Jha, M.D., M.P.H, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health: “In The Race For ‘Fanciest Hospital In Town,’ Patient Safety Loses Out.” Dr. Jha argues that hospitals glad spend millions of…
It was great to see this TIME story (which I think is only available online), by Rick Wartzman of the Drucker Institute: “The Real Face of Healthcare Reform.” Wartzman cites ThedaCare as an organization that is successfully reforming itself AND…
Mark’s Note: Today’s post is by a regular guest contributor, Christina Kach. I was disappointed that I couldn’t attend this year’s event in Massachusetts, but I was happy that Christina put together this summary. Last week I had the…
