Category Archives: Health care

ThedaCare: Lean Healthcare

Posted on January 30, 2006 by John Hunter

Area health systems put customer service first [the broken link was removed] by MaryBeth Matzek In 2005, ThedaCare was able to save $10 million thanks to its lean programs and officials hope to save another $12 million this year, Toussaint … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Lean thinking, Management Articles | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Lean Health Care: ThedaCare

Posted on December 21, 2005 by John Hunter

ThedaCare Shares Lean Secrets (link broken, so removed): ThedaCare adapted the lean business practice technique commonly referred to as Toyota Production System two years ago after a visit to the Ariens Co. in Brillion. There, ThedaCare officials saw firsthand how … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Lean thinking, Management Articles

Lean Hospitals

Posted on November 7, 2005 by John Hunter

Hospitals Turning Into Lean Machines by Megan Myers (broken link removed): The push toward adopting more efficient strategies in health care largely stems from a crucial need to reduce health care costs. In 2002, health care expenditures in the United … Continue reading →

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Lean Principles in Health Care

Posted on October 26, 2005 by John Hunter

“Lean” principles apply to health care [the broken link was removed], by Donna Daniel: Making the shift to a lean enterprise, whether it’s in a hospital, a physician practice or a nursing home, isn’t easy. Like any culture shift, it … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Management | Tagged

Seven Leadership Leverage Points

Posted on October 13, 2005 by John Hunter

Seven Leadership Leverage Points [the broken link was removed]: for Organization-Level Improvement in Health Care by James L. Reinertsen, MD; Michael D. Pugh and Maureen Bisognano. If leaders are to bring about system-level performance improvement, they must channel attention to … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Management, Process improvement | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Management Improvement in Healthcare

Posted on October 9, 2005 by John Hunter

Thinking out-of-the-box Helps Alexandra Hospital Reduce Patient Waiting Time, Singapore News, via Panta Rei. Another example of lean principles being used by government: When looking for solutions to cut patients’ waiting time, Alexandra Hospital took an out-of-the-box approach and looked … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Lean thinking, Management | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Healthcare Costs Spike Again

Posted on September 14, 2005 by John Hunter

Healthcare Costs Spike Again [the broken link was removed] by Jeanne Sahadi, CNN/Money: The premium growth rate this year – 9.2 percent – outpaced by miles both the growth in wages (2.7 percent) and inflation (3.5 percent) … since 2000 … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Economics, Health care, Systems thinking | Tagged | 2 Comments

Fixing Healthcare from the Inside

Posted on September 3, 2005 by John Hunter

Fixing Healthcare From the Inside, Today by Steven J. Spear, Harvard Business Review (PHBs broke the link so I removed it). To understand how the improvements were achieved, it is necessary to appreciate why such a gap exists between the … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Health care, Management | Tagged | 1 Comment

Going Lean in Health Care

Posted on August 17, 2005 by John Hunter

Going Lean in Health Care [the broken link has been removed] a report from the Institute for Healthcare improvement based on presentation by James Womack and others. This report is an another excellent resource from IHI, which I have mentioned … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Lean thinking, Management, Respect | 7 Comments

Saving Lives: US Health Care Improvement

Posted on July 16, 2005 by John Hunter

8 part special report by US News and Word Report on improving the US Health Care system. Join IHI in an ambitious initiative called the 100K Lives Campaign. Its goal is to save 100,000 hospital patients’ lives by 9 a.m. … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Health care, Management Articles, quote, Systems thinking | Tagged | 10 Comments