Healthcare Kaizen: Engaging Front-Line Staff in Sustainable Continuous Improvements 1st Edition

A truly excellent book for anyone involved in lean improvements, not just for those in healthcare.Healthcare Kaizen covers; What is Kaizen? How do you implement and change a culture? What are the lessons learned for continuous improvement?Topics are organized and covered clearly and thoroughly. Much of the focus was on leadership, which is crucial in any lean environment.I think my favorite part of the book was all of the Kaizen examples. They range from the very simple to the more complex. Unlike many contemporary books on lean and Kaizen, I never felt I was reading a "textbook". So many times I found myself saying, "We have that same problem in manufacturing."One final note on the last chapter, Kaizen at Home. It is funny how once people feel the power of Kaizen they wanted to be part of their entire life.

I have been doing Lean/Six Sigma work for almost 20 years, the last five in healthcare. Mark lays out a useful playbook for those wanting to implement the tools and techniques of Lean. As others have noted, it is not THE playbook with "Nth" degree of details, ROI statistics, and all the "double-blind, evidence based, data heavy" research or peer-reviewed document. And, IMHO, that is exactly its strength. Mark lays out a very do-able approach to help those on the frontline AND management identify their pain or gain opportunities, analyze and prioritize potential actions, develop execution plans, implement and sustain them, and then spread those effective practices to other shifts, floors, departments, and/or organizational elements. They say it takes three things to make this improvement stuff work - IDEAS, EXCUTION, and WILL. Mark's book helps you with the first two. YOU have to supply the third element. Lean, like ALL improvement systems, is a disruptive technology and is always personal. It requires CHANGE and it requires ME to change - change what I do, how I do it, with whom I do it, and when/where I do it.This book is simple without being simplistic. Get it. Use it. Do what it says. You WILL be a lot better off than where you are now.

As an early lean learner (3 years into my learning and practicing journey), I very much resonate with Mark's approach and truly appreciate his shared lean healthcare learnings in all his books. Mark's pragmatic methods/teachings simplify the core concepts making them easier to apply/practice. In addition, his people-centric focus (both patient and employee) is both refreshing and respectful as well as motivating for me to continue to do this work.I work in a large healthcare system that launched a system-wide lean transformation effort that primarily led improvement work through the Value Stream and RIE structure. Reading through the Healthcare Kaizen book was eye-opening. This is exactly what was missing from our overall approach and I can't wait to implement immediately.

The force of Lean lies in the thinking that informs the continuous improvement process. It is easy to become caught up in the tools set of Lean, especially when one mixes in six sigma. Yet, Mark Graban's book powerfully and clearly brings the reader (looking to bring Lean into Healthcare) to a place where they "see" with Lean eyes and can implement changes with appropriate tools. I say appropriate tools because this book does not make the mistake of simply laying out a pre set tool kit. To be sure all the regulars are there. Presented in a functional manner with many real examples (and templates in the Kindle version!). The context of Lean thinking is never lost, however. Mr.Graban teaches how to apply Lean thinking and that generates the tool set...and allows for innovation and adaptation of the tool sets. This is why the book is such an asset in driving a continuous improvement process and creates real and sustainable change. It changes the thinking and culture with practical application and empowered innovation. Buy it, read it, use it and share it...and grow with your team and organization. Enjoy.

1980’s way of thinking

This is very insightful book, written very well and easy to use to perform your Improvement Projects from start to finish. "Healthcare Kaizen" also explains how to sustain your gains. Many authors just use the same tactic from manufacturing and slap the works "Healthcare" on their book, and try to market it that way. However, Mark Graban has obviously taken the time to use real world Hospital examples to explain the complexities of performing Kaizen Performance Improvement in the industry. The book was also produced using extremely good materials and the pages are very durable and made for heavy use. Great Book and worth every penny!

Healthcare kaizen is a great book on how (and why) kaizen works in the hospital environment. As a supplier to hospitals, i found this book very helpful in getting into the mind of our lean-minded customers. As a lean practitioner, the examples provided in the book show a practical illustration of kaizen at work in a hospital environment as well as detail the lessons learned from Toyota. It was like "The Toyota Way" transcribed into another world. I'll use this book to share with my colleagues and as a reference for building our own kaizen culture at my company.

You would be better off searching for information online about lean hospitals/practices rather than buying this book. I was very disappointed in the quality of the book due to lack of hard facts. I felt like the book presented very few ideas, and if ideas were presented, they were very wishy-washy. I found the book to be unoriginal and basic. Look how many people are selling their copies used... If you have any experience with lean or healthcare, I would recommend to purchase another book. If you don't have experience with lean or healthcare, I would suggest purchasing a different book. (I am a student studying supply chain management and health care management)