Going Lean in Healthcare

Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Innovation Series, 2005

“People are not cars!” But it turns out that, although healthcare differs in many ways from manufacturing, there are also surprising similarities and Lean principles have a positive impact.

Although healthcare differs in many ways from manufacturing, Lean principles can be — indeed, already are being — successfully applied to the delivery of healthcare. Examples in this paper of Lean thinking in healthcare demonstrate that, when applied rigorously and throughout an entire organization, Lean principles can have a positive impact on productivity, cost, quality and timely delivery of services.

• The Power of Lean in Healthcare
• Key Concepts of Lean Thinking: Lessons from the Experience in Industry
• Getting Started
• Applying Lean Thinking to Healthcare