On the Mend: Revolutionizing Healthcare to Save Lives and Transform the Industry published by the nonprofit Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) has won a 2012 Shingo Research and Professional Publications Award.
Authors John Toussaint, M.D., and Roger A. Gerard, Ph.D., will receive their awards at the Shingo Prize International Conference, April 30 – May 4, in Jacksonville, FL. Named for the late Shigeo Shingo, a Toyota Production System contributor, the prize is administered by Utah State University to recognize research, publications, and organizations sustaining operational excellence.
“On the Mend showed that a different kind of healthcare is possible – one that is patient-focused with less waste and cost and better medical outcomes,” said Jane Bulnes-Fowles, LEI’s Lean Learning Materials manager. “We’re thrilled and honored that the Shingo Prize has recognized this important work and another book from LEI.”
In January, the Shingo Prize announced that Building a Lean Fulfillment Stream, a pioneering workbook on how to apply lean principles to supply chains and logistics, had won a 2012 research award.
LEI faculty member Drew Locher also won a 2012 research award for Lean Office and Service Simplified: The Definitive How-to Guide, published by CRC Press.
Lean Healthcare Journey
Toussaint, CEO emeritus of ThedaCare, a five-hospital healthcare system in Wisconsin, and Gerard, its chief learning officer, candidly describe ThedaCare’s lean healthcare journey, an effort that slashed errors, improved patient outcomes, raised staff morale, and saved $27 million dollars in costs without layoffs.
Toussaint makes the case that if other healthcare systems apply lean principles, they will generate similar results, and patients will benefit. “Lean healthcare exemplifies operational excellence and value for our patients, in terms of quality over cost,” he said. “It is gratifying to be recognized with the Shingo Research Award for our work.”
Gerard shares that viewpoint. “We wrote On the Mend to encourage others to expand on the work we have done at ThedaCare, because we believe this is the path we must take to get better care to more people. This recognition will help us reach others interested in improving healthcare.”
Toussaint’s latest book, Potent Medicine, the follow-up to On the Mend, expands on the healthcare delivery redesign by focusing on three key components in creating a value-based healthcare system: use lean methods to design care around the patient; give consumers information about the cost and quality of treatment; pay doctors and hospitals for good outcomes, not procedures.
On the Mend: Revolutionizing Healthcare to Save Lives and Transform the Industry
– By John Toussaint, M.D., and Roger A. Gerard, Ph.D.
– Published, June 16, 2010, Lean Enterprise Institute
– 181 pages
– ISBN: 978-1-934109-27-4
– $30.00 (hardcover)
– Testimonials, Q&A, excerpts, more: www.onthemendbook.com/
– Media: Chet Marchwinski, LEI, cmarchwinski@lean.org, 617-871-2930; Nicole Singer, Bottom Line Marketing & Public Relations, 414-270-3000, nsinger@blmpr.com
About the Authors
John Toussaint is the founder and CEO of the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value, which encompasses the Healthcare Value Network (HVN), a partnership between the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value and LEI. While president and CEO of ThedaCare, Toussaint introduced the successful ThedaCare Improvement System (TIS), which is the Toyota production system applied to healthcare.
Roger Gerard is ThedaCare’s chief learning officer. He specializes in executive and management development, process improvement, and the use of lean methodologies in bringing about significant and measurable organizational improvement.
Lean Enterprise Institute
Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc., was founded in 1997 by management expert James P. Womack, Ph.D., as a nonprofit research, education, publishing, and conference company with a mission to advance lean thinking around the world. Learn more at https://www.lean.org
ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value
The ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value is a not-for profit with a mission to change care delivery and payment incentives to reward the best performers on quality and cost and to build and facilitate learning networks of healthcare providers. Learn more at: http://www.createvalue.org
ThedaCare
ThedaCare™ is a community-owned health system in Wisconsin’s Fox River Valley. It consists of Appleton Medical Center, Theda Clark Medical Center, Shawano Medical Center, New London Family Medical Center, Riverside Medical Center in Waupaca, ThedaCare Physicians, Ingenuity First and other health care services. Learn more at: www.thedacare.org.