Tag: Wheeler

Not All Improvement Ideas Require “Projects”

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In this post, I share some thoughts and build upon one of the presentations at last week's Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit, where, Tim Pehrson, a regional CEO for Intermountain Healthcare, talked about how they piloted a continuous improvement process in one region... and how they're now spreading it throughout the system. This leads to confusion, in online discussion, about terms like projects, suggestions, ideas, and such...

Reader Question: More Clarity in Visualizing Hospital Performance Data

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I received another reader question (submit yours here) and it's about statistics, "daily Lean management," and visualizing performance data. Hey Mark: I like your posts...

You Get What You Incentivize? NBA Player Bonus Edition, Maurice Harkless

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If you don't care about sports or statistical process analysis, this isn't the post for you... but it was interesting for me to try to wrap my head around the data behind a headline ("Blazers player secures $500,000 bonus by not taking 3-pointer in final game of the season") that I'll write about here in this post.

Dr. Deming on Why Improvement Stalls Out, Today’s Hospital Patient Safety...

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Can leaders get some improvement just by asking for it? Does improvement stall out if we don't have a method for doing so? What can "process behavior" charts show us in our work today?

Your “Lean Daily Management” Approach Would Be Even Better with Some...

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Here is an article that I wrote and published on LinkedIn on Tuesday on the topic of managing metrics in a better, less wasteful, less frustrating, and more productive manner.

Meeting A Professional Hero: Donald J. Wheeler, PhD, of “Understanding Variation”

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I recently got to meet Prof. Donald J. Wheeler when he gave a keynote talk at the Society for Health Systems Conference. Check out his book Understanding Variation and learn more about him in this post.

Data Without Context Have No Meaning: Emergency Department Wait Time Billboards

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Patients waiting too long for the E.D. is a problem around the world. Many U.S. hospitals put up billboards that claim to shed light on how long you'll have to wait. But are the signs and numbers more confusing than helpful? Does it matter?

Better Metrics & “Understanding Variation” – An Important Topic for Healthcare

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My favorite book, as I've written about before, is not a "Lean book" -- it's Understanding Variation: The Key to Managing Chaos by Donald J. Wheeler, PhD. It might look like a book about statistics...

Please Help with Research Topics – Understanding Variation & Reducing Blame

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OK, so it's not the kind of scientific research that involves lab coats and microscopes, but I'm doing some research that I'd like your...

Why Red-Green Charts in Management are a Rear-View Mirror Approach

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tl;dr: The article critiques the traditional use of red-green charts in management, likening it to driving by looking only at the rear-view mirror. It...

The Book that Changed Me: “Understanding Variation” by Don Wheeler

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For my latest "LinkedIn Influencer" post, I was asked to participate in a series about "The Book that Changed Me." I chose to highlight not...

Can SPC Show if American Airlines Pilots are Staging a “Sick...

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As a frequent flyer on American Airlines and a former DFW-area resident, I pay a lot of attention to the troubled airline. American is...