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Lean Practices for Resource Use, Timeliness, and Coordination of Care in Breast Cancer Navigation

Dorothy Y. Hung, Paul Kim, Martina Li, Qiwen Huang, Cynthia Cantril, Natalia Colocci, and Ellis C. Dillon,

Researchers at Sutter Health completed a study on making cancer care more efficient and patient centered. Using Lean methods, a BCN program focused on women receiving a breast biopsy was developed at a pilot site and later implemented throughout the healthcare system. After implementing the BCN program, more timely biopsy results were delivered to patients. Patients were more likely to complete an initial consultation within two weeks of biopsy and made fewer outpatient...

Lean Healthcare Research Symposium 2025

We are pleased to announce the 9th annual Lean Healthcare Research Symposium! Please join us on March 4th, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia!

2025 Lean Healthcare Symposium

Speakers Include:

Tomás Aragón, M.D., Dr.P.H. - State Public Health Officer and Director, California Department...

Patient Safety 2024 Release Tour

Celebrate the upcoming release of The Pitch: Patient Safety's Next Generation by registering for a special screening and panel discussion The future of health care belongs to the next generation. From the Director of To Err Is Human: A Patient Safety Documentary (2018) comes a new documentary about the evolving role of technology in improving patient safety across medicine. Through expert interviews, real-world technology solutions, and one young innovator’s journey into the layered business of medicine, The Pitch showcases the immense effort required to break into the...

Enduring Excellence Seminar 2024

Registration for the upcoming executive seminar, Enduring Excellence, is now open!

Don't miss this opportunity to join healthcare leaders from across the country at Value Capture's Enduring Excellence seminar. During this seminar, leaders will explain how they applied the Habitual Excellence framework, resulting in exceptional and sustainable results for the organization and more time for the executives to focus on the future. In addition to hearing from these leaders, you will have the opportunity to go and see the work so you can experience what it is like in action....

Lean Healthcare Research Symposium 2024

Thank you to everyone who attended and participated in the 2024 Lean Healthcare Research Symposium!

Speakers Include:

Ken Snyder, M.B.A - Shingo Institute

...

Lean Performance Indicators and Facilitators of Outcomes in U.S. Public Hospitals

Tyler Roey, Dorothy Hung, Thomas Rundall, Pierre-Luc Fournier, Athena Zhong, Stephen Shortell

This study investigated the association between Lean and performance outcomes in U.S. public hospitals. Public hospitals face substantial pressure to deliver high-quality care with limited resources. Lean-based management systems can provide these hospitals with alternative approaches to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Prior research shows that Lean can have positive impacts in hospitals ranging in ownership type, but more study is needed, specifically in publicly owned hospitals...

Transformational Performance Improvement: Why is Progress Slow?

Dorothy Y. Hung, Justin Lee; Thomas G. Rundall

In this article, the authors identify three distinct transformational performance improvement (TPI) approaches commonly used to redesign work processes in healthcare organizations. They also summarize what is empirically known about the effectiveness of each TPI approach according to systematic reviews of available literature. They discuss what knowledge is still needed to strengthen the evidence for whole system transformation. This involves using conceptual frameworks to assess and guide implementation efforts, and facilitators and...

Managing Through a Pandemic: A Daily Management System for COVID-19 Response and Recovery

Dorothy Y. Hung, Thomas G. Rundall, Justin Lee, Negeen Khandel, Stephen M. Shortell

CLEAR Director Dorothy Hung PhD along with other CLEAR faculty and trainees published a study that explored the use of a Lean daily management system (DMS) for COVID-19 response and recovery in U.S. hospitals and health systems. Originally developed in manufacturing, Lean is an evidence-based approach to quality and process improvement in healthcare. Although Lean has been studied in individual hospital units and outpatient practices, it has not been examined as a whole system response to crisis...

Associations Between Lean IT Management and Financial Performance in US Hospitals

Justin Lee, BA; Dorothy Y. Hung, PhD, MA, MPH; Elina Reponen, MD, PhD; Thomas G. Rundall, PhD; Aaron A. Tierney, BA; Pierre-Luc Fournier, PhD, MS; Stephen M. Shortell, PhD, MBA, MPH

This study used primary data sourced from 1222 hospitals that responded to the National Survey of Lean(NSL)/Transformational Performance Improvement to understand the relationship between Lean implementation in information technology (IT) departments and hospital performance, particularly with respect to operational and financial outcomes.