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
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    healthcare cybersecurity
    4 Helpful Tips on How to Protect Your Medical Practice Against Cyber Attacks
    October 24, 2021
    Health Check Diagnosis Medical Condition Analysis Concept
    6 Health Woes With Online Remedies
    January 19, 2022
    Eight Things Men Should Know About the Male Menopause
    Eight Things Men Should Know About the Male Menopause
    April 24, 2022
    Latest News
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
    The Hidden Impact Of Stress On Your Body’s Alignment And Balance
    May 22, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    healthy nursing school habits
    Healthy Habits for Nursing Student Nursing School Students
    May 24, 2024
    High Deductables
    High-Deductible Insurance and Rising Bad Debt
    July 24, 2015
    How People Are Taking Advantage of Health Deals in the Recent Recession
    February 5, 2021
    Latest News
    Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
    June 25, 2025
    When Healthcare Ends, the Legal Process Begins: What Families Should Know About Probate and Medical Estates
    June 20, 2025
    Preventing Contamination In Healthcare Facilities Starts With Hygiene
    June 15, 2025
    Strengthening Healthcare Systems Through Clinical and Administrative Career Development
    June 13, 2025
  • 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
Last updated: June 3, 2012 9:35 am
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

disruptive women logo
Culture Change Is Here: People Are Price-Shopping for Health Care
Medicine Is a Profession, But Healthcare Is a Business
Digital Analytics 101 for Healthcare Marketers: Blogging
Concierge Medicine – For the Masses or the Elite?
Healthcare App ZocDoc Cracks A Top 100 List

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

women dental care
What Is a Smile Makeover and How Much Does It Cost?
Dental health
June 30, 2025
HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps
Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
Global Healthcare Policy & Law Technology
June 25, 2025
recovering from injury
Rebuilding After Injury: Path to Physical and Emotional Recovery
News
June 22, 2025
scientist using microscope
When Healthcare Ends, the Legal Process Begins: What Families Should Know About Probate and Medical Estates
Global Healthcare
June 18, 2025

You Might also Like

Long-Term Care [INFOGRAPHIC]

July 8, 2014
Image
BusinessPublic Health

Annual Healthcare Costs For Family of 4 Now At $22,030

June 3, 2013

Finally: An FDA (Draft) Guidance for Social Media in Medical Marketing

January 21, 2014

Obama Names New Nominee for CMS Head in ’12

November 24, 2011
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?