By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Implementing Kaizen for a Lean Health Care Transformation
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Implementing Kaizen for a Lean Health Care Transformation
Business

Implementing Kaizen for a Lean Health Care Transformation

Principle Healthcare
Principle Healthcare
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

Having recently attended a meeting for the American College of Healthcare Executives, I had the chance to query a hospital CEO, who coincidentally happened to be a Toyota engineer in a former life, about healthcare Kaizen.  After mentioning that his team was currently engaged in a lean project, he, much to my surprise, confessed that he was not very familiar with the concept either.  Given my interest in continuous qualit

Having recently attended a meeting for the American College of Healthcare Executives, I had the chance to query a hospital CEO, who coincidentally happened to be a Toyota engineer in a former life, about healthcare Kaizen.  After mentioning that his team was currently engaged in a lean project, he, much to my surprise, confessed that he was not very familiar with the concept either.  Given my interest in continuous quality improvement, I decided to investigate further.

Kaizen is an ancient Japanese philosophy that strives to continually improve all aspects of a person’s life. Recognizing the need for significant change in the late eighties, Dr. Don Berwick, former Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Harvard Community Health Plan physician, illuminated the concept of Kaizen in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine.  As a potentially crucial concept for improving health care in the United States, Dr. Berwick writes that, “..in the discovery of imperfection lies the chance for processes to improve”.

With a variety of approaches available for organizational improvement, one may wonder, why choose Kaisen?  While Six Sigma is a mathematical process focused on eliminating statistically relevant defects, Kaizen seeks to improve all aspects of a business through process standardization, increased efficiency and waste elimination by focusing on seven core areas – overproduction, defects, unnecessary motion, inventory, space, transportation and waiting time.  Incremental and frequent improvements emanate from ‘Kaizen events’, which involve members from multiple functions and levels in the organization working together to address a problem or improve a particular process in a short time-frame.  By tackling process redesign, positive and immediate impacts can be found in the quality, cost and speed of service with corresponding results in improved customer satisfaction and patient experience.  And if you are still on the fence about the merits for your organization – be it inpatient or outpatient – you must see how the leaders at Salem Health felt about their journey to Japan to witness the Kaizen process first-hand.

More Read

Using Telemedicine to Increase Hospital Revenue
Fee-for-Service Again
Mobile Health Around the Globe: Barcelona – Interview With Jorge Juan Fernandez
New School Marketing Shifts That Boost Service Line Profitability [Part Two]
A Medicaid Block Grant by Any Other Name Would Stink

Suspended in free fall – with another dismal jobs report sending the Dow careening, healthcare spending slowing, more Americans grappling with healthcare coverage/choices and the onset of value-based purchasing, the time seems ripe for the healthcare industry to usher Kaizen into their organizations.  With experts predicting that 10% of the workforce should be solely focused on working ON the business rather than IN the business, identifying the typical 30-60% of organizational effort that is waste, how will your organization bring this concept to reality for your own lean healthcare transformation?

 

TAGGED:ACHEACOCare DesignCMSCQIDefectdon berwickHealthcare AdministrationHealthcare Innovationhealthcare reformhealthITinnovationKaizenLeanManufacturingmHealthPatient ExperiencePCMHPIProcess ImprovementQualitysafetySalem HealthSix SigmatelemedicineToyota Production SystemTPS
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

dental care
Importance of Good Dental Care for Health and Confidence
Dental health Specialties
October 2, 2025
AI in Healthcare
AI in Healthcare: Technology is Transforming the Global Landscape
Global Healthcare Policy & Law Technology
October 1, 2025
Choosing the Right Swimwear for Health and Safety
News
September 30, 2025
sports concussions
Concussion In Sports: How Common They Are And What You Need To Know
Infographics
September 28, 2025

You Might also Like

patient engagement and communication
BusinessHospital Administration

Paternalist vs. Patient-Centered Approach to Patient Engagement

March 4, 2014

Express Scripts-Medco Merger — Antitrust?

July 21, 2011

Why Don’t Hospitals Compete on Quality?

July 23, 2011
telemedicine kiosk
eHealthTechnology

Telemedicine Kiosks in Ohio: The After-Hours Doctor Visit of the Future

October 26, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?