My new Lean Healthcare Handbook is now available on Amazon.com. Buy the paperback and get the kindle version for only $2.99!
Medical errors and mistakes are responsible for much unnecessary suffering and death, not to mention costs that threaten to bankrupt many countries. Lean healthcare has the potential to solve these problems. This book is unique in that it shows precisely how to use proven tools and techniques to remove the waste from healthcare processes. It includes in-depth discussions of value stream mapping, takt time, spaghetti diagrams, workcell design, 5S, SMED, A3, Kanban, Kaizen and many more, all presented in the context of healthcare. But the Lean Healthcare Handbook goes beyond merely describing tools, it shows you exactly how to USE these tools to design healthcare work that is smooth, efficient, error-free and focused on patients and patient outcomes. For example, the book explains the importance of quick changeovers (for example, operating room or exam room changeovers) and shows you specific methods for drastically reducing changeover time. You will learn to create healthcare value streams where work flows based on the pull of customer/patient demand. You will also learn a variety of ways to continue improving after your initial Lean successes. Methods for finding the root causes of problems and implementing effective solutions are described and demonstrated. The approach taught here is based on the the Toyota Production System, which has been adopted worldwide by healthcare organizations in clinical, non-clinical and administrative areas.
The topics covered in this book are also taught in online Lean Training and Certification courses, where you can earn recognition of your skills from an acclaimed and accredited training organization, The Pyzdek Institute. Thomas Pyzdek worked with Dr. W. Edwards Deming in the 1980s and 1990s to help spread the word about a new and better way to run organizations. This book is the latest contribution to this ongoing mission.
(Edited by Juan Rivera - original submission Friday, December 1, 2017, 3:32 PM)