Lean Hospitals: Improving Quality, Patient Safety, and Employee Satisfaction

I'm working on my Master's in Healthcare Administration and working on a research proposal. I thought the book would be a good investment for the information regarding Lean methodologies. My project is specific to outpatient cancer clinic and after finding this information on Google Books, I needed to dig a bit deeper. I decided to get a used copy. I paid a tad bit more so I would have it in time for drafting my proposal, but I didn't mind. It came via UPS and I was happy with the condition of the book. So far the information is useful. I hope to get more out of it as I progress in my degree.

I have been reading Lean for a year since I came across it in my MBA program. In my opinion, it is the very best way to fix what ails hospitals. I have visited two of the leaders in the field including Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle and a ThedaCare Lean event in Wisconsin. I am an experienced Critical Care Physician. This book puts it all together. The author, although an engineer, GETS healthcare. This book is for those of you who have worked long and hard in the trenches of clinical work in hospitals.The author explains Lean clearly and concisely, and applies the material to hospital functions. Lean teaches that those closest to the work are most able to fashion the processes of the work. In hospitals those closest to the work are the best trained and often the most intelligent. Who better to change the culture. The author minces no words when discussing the difficulties and challenges of attaining such a cultural change. Lean is the only visible way out of the problems of cost, quality, professional and patient satisfaction that have plagued our industry. Lean makes it clear that all these goals are not only attainable, but dependent on one another.The book is easy to read. It is not dense. I was able to read it in my flight back and forth to Wisconsin. If you are at all interested in hospital quality initiatives or Lean healthcare, you should read this book.

I first came across Mark Graban's blog ([...]) where he offers a free download of the 1st chapter of his book. I was immediately hooked! The book has much to offer to anyone interested in healthcare and / or lean management.The subtitle shows his focus: Improving Quality, Patient Safety and Employee Satisfaction. And this focus is smart! Today most organizations make the mistake of first focusing on reducing costs, therefore antagonizing the very people who could help them do so. Mark shows how focusing on quality, patient safety and employee satisfaction through a lean implementation can actually lead to reduced costs. First things first!This book can definitely be used as a resource for Lean Healthcare training / workshops:- the brief history of lean methods and the overview of lean for hospitals give a useful background to people new to the field,- the chapters of Value and Waste, Lean Methods, Value Streams, Standardized Work, Preventing Errors, Improving Flow all give many valuable examples which will help along your own Lean project, and are each neatly summarized by a "Lean Lessons" paragraph.- The Glossary Terms, the index and excellent bibliography make it easy to research further some of the concepts if you wish to.I highly recommend Mark Graban's book to anyone involved in the Healthcare field, whether they are implementing Lean or just wanting to do their job better.Another great resource for trainers and consultants is the "Value Stream Management for Lean Healthcare Training Set" by Don Tapping, Sue Kozlowski, Laura Archbold and Todd Sperl: it includes a CD ROM with forms, spreadsheets and powerpoint presentations and it is worth its price.

If you work in healthcare these days, you are likely aware that Lean is the new power tool for continuous improvement, which has been sweeping the world of manufacturing and is now on a march through the healthcare industry. This delightful book provides a broad-ranging yet detailed look at the application of lean tools and philosophy to hospitals and healthcare. It is now the primary book I recommend to healthcare professionals and managers who have an interest in exploring the idea of improving clinical operations. I have adopted a practice of giving copies as strategic gifts to those I believe can leverage the wisdom contained in this book to best advantage in improving our hospital.The author - Mark Graban - is an industrial engineer now working in the healthcare industry. His book begins by making the case for applying lean thinking to healthcare operations - to decrease errors, improve outcomes and take out cost. This is accomplished mainly through the systematic, ongoing elimination of that which does not add value for patients, families or practitioners. He goes on to addresses the question "what is lean - for healthcare?", and it becomes clear that the best solutions to healthcare issues will likely come from within the community of healthcare workers - assisted by outside partners - often from other industries.The book chapters then commence a tour of lean principles, tools and methods -- including value stream, flow, standardized work, 5S problem exposure, root-cause problem solving and error prevention. There are insightful looks into using lean tools with many practical healthcare examples. As well, there is an equal measure of methods and examples aimed at engaging and developing hospital workers - both caregivers and those supporting care delivery in non-clinical departments. These chapters demonstrate not only methods and tools but the need to connect these with the hospital's staff and develop them as take-responsibility problem solvers.In summary, this is an easy read and an excellent introduction to lean healthcare. It is my belief that this important book is destined to become a classic in the literature of healthcare improvement.

The book is a good depiction of using lean tools in a hospital. But if you are a practitioner it is a waste of money. There is nothing you are going to learn in this book that is deeper knowledge.

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