‘Beyond Heroes’ Earns Shingo Research Award

Beyond Heroes: A Lean Management System for Healthcare, the most recent book from the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value, has earned the prestigious Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award.

The award is given annually by The Shingo Institute, a not-for-profit organization that is part of Utah State University. The award recognizes the book’s contribution to increasing overall operational excellence.

This is the third book associated with the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value to earn this award. Previously, On the Mend and Potent Medicine — both by Center CEO John Toussaint, MD — were honored. In Beyond Heroes, author Kim Barnas details step by step how ThedaCare teams developed their management system, using the stories of its doctors, nurses and administrators to illustrate lean principles.

The book explores each of the eight essential components of the lean system, from front-line problem solving with the scientific method to daily team huddles and creating standard work for leaders all the way to the top of an organization. It’s the story of an organization breaking the long-held habit of healthcare relying on the heroics of one brilliant nurse or doctor to save the day.

“It is gratifying to be recognized with the Shingo Research Award,” said Barnas. “Our goal with the book was to convey the lean process in concrete, manageable pieces that would be most relevant and actionable to healthcare leaders. The award is great affirmation that we’ve begun to do just that.”

Barnas and other featured authors received their awards earlier this month at the 27th Annual Shingo Institute Awards Gala during the international conference in Provo, Utah.

“Beyond Heroes continues the tradition we’ve established at the Center for industry-leading books and resources,” said COO Helen Zak.

For details about Beyond Heroes, visit createvalue.org/product/beyond-heroes. For details about Potent Medicine or On the Mend, visit http://createvalue.org/shop/.

The Shingo Institute promotes excellence in organizations through application of universally accepted principles of operational systems and seeks to empower people and transform organizational culture.