There is an interesting comment from a nursing union representative in Minneapolis who recently went on strike. She claims that lean reduced nursing patient ratios. In the article she offers no data in support this comment. In fact, our experience has been that staff to patient ratios actually increase in a successful lean implementation because the […]
The following PowerPoint slides summarize the core components of the healthcare reform bill as it relates to the delivery system. These slides summarize the multitude of plans being put in place by the federal government to change the delivery of care.This only a high level overview of what is in store because very little administrative rule […]
This article in the New York Times shows that politicians can make anyone,even Don Berwick into a villain. This article casts Don Berwick as an inhumane healthcare rationing freak.We all know this is just political wrangling having nothing to do with the truth.Despite all the letters we have written in support of Don Berwick […]
CMS released new information about ACOs this week which will allow patients to choose whether they get all of their care from one ACO or multiple ones.This is an important clarification as it may make it even more difficult to track which part of the provider system gets paid for what. CMS Issues First […]
The following slides show the timeline for the components of the delivery reform portion of the healthcare bill and how it is proposed it will be funded. The first of the attached slides shows what provider systems should expect from the health reform bill over the next 10 years.The second slide shows how it will be paid […]
The following are my reflections of the lean healthcare transformation summit in Orlando which wrapped up yesterday. The audience was keen to learn lean healthcare. With 500 billion dollars in spending cuts now legislated by the federal government healthcare leaders are realizing that status quo isn’t possible. Presentations by Group Health of Puget Sound, ThedaCare, University of […]
In his monthly e-letter Jim Womack relays his opinion about the state of healthcare and comments on our recently released book, “On the Mend” and the influence he thinks the book may have on the healthcare industry. I’ve been interested in applying lean thinking to healthcare since I first focused a lean lens on the […]
Here is an article published in Medical Home News regarding ThedaCare’s work in redesigning outpatient care.ThedaCare calls this The New Delivery Model but it represents a lot of the work that most people in the country are describing as the medical home.View article below. ThedaCare has not dubbed it’s redesigned ambulatory care process a […]
Here we go again,the enemy of good is perfect. In the following article in the New York Times the Dartmouth Atlas data and results are being questioned as valid. Give me a break! This is the most studied healthcare data base on earth and it has been available for 20 years so all researchers have been […]
Group Health recently published remarkable cost and quality improvements with their work on the medical home. There has been a lot written recently about the “medical home”.This is the term popularized to describe the structure of the relationship between the primary care physician and the patient.The theory being that if the outpatient visit was re […]
