Stop Rising Healthcare Costs Using Toyota Lean Production Methods
Posted on: Tuesday, 15 November 2005, 09:00 CST
By Farris, Dale
Stop Rising Healthcare Costs Using Toyota Lean Production Methods Robert W. Chalice, ASQ Quality Press, 2005, 192 pp., $20 member, $25 list (book).
Robert Chalice applies his 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry in Stop Rising Healthcare Costs Using Toyota Lean Production Methods: 38 Steps for Improvement. The book begins with a concise analysis of the major concerns in today's U.S. healthcare system, including rising healthcare premium costs, the increasing number of uninsured Americans, waste, expenditures as a growing percentage of the gross domestic product and Chalice's perspective on the failure of quality improvement and total quality management in healthcare.
Chalice follows this with a brief synopsis of the importance of employee respect and-at the heart of the booksummarizes his 38 key steps, all based on the well-known Toyota lean production methodology. The steps are briefly explained and directly related to the healthcare industry. They are based on the advice of lean advocates and quality experts, as well as the author's own experience with process improvement in healthcare.
The appendixes include summaries of how three healthcare facilitiesChildren's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle, the Veteran's Administration Pittsburgh Health System and the Department of Pathology in the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Shadyside Hospital-have successfully applied some of the Toyota production system principles.
Chalice does a super job relating the principles of Toyota's manufacturing prowess to the needs and interests of healthcare managers. Readers will better understand how to implement a Toyota based organizational structure to continuously improve quality and reduce cost in healthcare organizations. I highly recommended this book for anyone in healthcare leadership and healthcare quality improvement.
Dale Farris
Groves, TX
Copyright American Society for Quality Nov 2005
Source: Quality Progress
Related Articles
- Florida Celebrates National Healthcare Quality Week
- NJHA: Hospitals Achieve Gains in Healthcare Quality, But Commitment to Improve Continues
- Quantros Staff Member Named to Florida Association for Healthcare Quality
- Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield's 'Promoting Healthcare Quality Program' Improves Quality and Patient Safety in 19 Colorado Hospitals
- HIMSS Urges Congress to Improve Healthcare Quality With Passage of HIT Legislation
- Healthcare Quality Solutions, Inc. Adds Two Award Winning Executives As Business Development Managers
- How To Get an A+ in the Public Reporting of Healthcare Quality Data, Live Audio Conference
- National Quality Forum Compendium Compiles National Consensus Standards of Healthcare Quality
- Healthcare Quality Solutions, Inc. Acquires Assets of VantaHealth Technologies LLC
- Qualis Health Honors Idaho Groups for Healthcare Quality Improvements
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds