2013 Healthcare Transformation Summit a Success

What do Paul O'Neill, James Womack PhD, Francois de Brantes, Alan Gleghorn, Don Shilton, Henry Hawthorne, Alan Aviles, and John Toussaint MD have in common? They were all keynote speakers last week at what attendees have said was the best Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit yet. But that's not all. They also are CEOs or former CEOs who have focused on bringing operational excellence to their organizations. That means personally learning how to be a lean leader. They inspired hundreds of people with their stories and experiences.

The Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit is an annual event where leaders can network and share their experiences on implementing lean, as well as their struggles and successes with new healthcare payment systems and becoming transparent on cost and quality performance. The networking is considered the best part of the experience.  Our job at the Center is to bring important thought leaders to the attendees to stretch their thinking.

This year, Dr. Toussaint started the Summit with his personal story of a family member who was injured due to medical error. He went on to describe what could be done to build an organization that doesn't make errors. He highlighted two Canadian hospitals in his presentation, Scarborough and The Hospital for Sick Children. In addition, he called attention to the change management system at Trinity Muscatine, part of Unity Point.

Francois de Brantes described the massive variation of price and outcomes of medical care in the U.S. He compared transparency of healthcare performance with his first apartment in New York City. "When you turned the light on at night,” he said. “All the cockroaches would scurry away.”

Paul O'Neill did his usual masterful job of challenging the audience to focus attention on employees and, specifically, employee safety.  He discussed how he used that platform to build a culture of excellence at Alcoa.

Alan Gleghorn shared his experience of applying lean at the Christie Clinic, a multispecialty clinic in Illinois, and Jim Womack ended the summit with an inspiring description of what great management can look like.In between the great keynotes and conversations, we had a number of terrific presenters on everything from lean IT to payment reform in Wisconsin. The energy was palpable and attendees walked away with renewed drive to go back and continue to build operational excellence in their own organizations.

Be sure to block out the first week in June to attend next year’s Summit. We plan to study and adjust from this year's feedback and make the Summit even more powerful next year. As someone said, "Lean is now a legitimate movement in healthcare."

Join in the conversation to see what the excitement is all about.  In the meantime, continue to check createvalue.org for new insights, information and opportunities to connect!

For more great recaps on the Summit, check out these links:

Health Informatics’ Interview with breakout presenter Karen Timberlake

Summit Wrap-up from Cape Medical Supply

Mike Stoecklein’s Gemba Walkabout

Summit Updates from the HHS Regional Extension Center