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

Drawing on his years of working with hospitals, Mark Graban explains why and how Lean can be used to improve safety, quality, and efficiency in a healthcare setting. After highlighting the benefits of Lean methods for patients, employees, physicians, and the hospital itself, he explains how Lean manufacturing staples such as Value Stream Mapping and process observation can help hospital personnel identify and eliminate waste in their own processes — effectively preventing delays for patients, reducing wasted motion for caregivers, and improving the quality of care.

Additionally, Graban describes how Standardized Work and error-proofing can prevent common hospital errors and details root cause problem-solving and daily improvement processes that can engage all personnel in systemic improvement. A unique guide for healthcare professionals, Lean Hospitals clearly elaborates the steps they can take to begin the proactive process of Lean implementation.

The book has an accompanying website with more information.

Mark Graban was quoted in a July 2010 New York Times article about lean hospitals.