Advanced Lean Thinking:
Proven Methods to Reduce Waste and Improve Quality in Health Care


This new book offers an effective alternative to traditional health care performance improvement. A follow-up to the best-selling Doing More with Less: Lean Thinking and Patient Safety in Health Care, Advanced Lean Thinking focuses on five specific tools and principles that can eliminate waste, save critical time, and improve the delivery and safety of patient care.

Part One of Advanced Lean Thinking takes an in-depth look at the foundational rules and principles of Lean thinking. Chapter by chapter, it unpacks a “Lean toolbox” providing definitions, step-by-step explanations of how to use the tools, and example applications for value stream mapping, kaizen events, 5S events, error proofing, and Six Sigma.

Part Two takes readers through real-life applications of these key Lean concepts and tools by highlighting case studies of successful Lean projects in all types of health care settings. These revealing examples illustrate the collaborative nature and power of Lean tools and identify opportunities for the future. Seven case studies explore Lean thinking in such areas as patient and nurse flow, appointment scheduling, lab turnaround, and more. The final chapter helps readers successfully advance Lean thinking in their own health care organizations and achieve rapid results.

This new book features:
● In-depth explanations on how organizations can adapt Lean tools to their health care setting
● Setting-specific applications identified for Lean concepts and tools
● Case studies from various organizations demonstrating how they have implemented and benefited from Lean thinking