My guest for Episode #260 of the podcast is Brad White, author of the recently-released book Lean Daily Management for Healthcare: A Strategic Guide to Implementing Lean for Hospital Leaders. He is currently a Senior Process Improvement Advisor at Grady Health System in Atlanta, but I first met Brad a few years back when we were both in San Antonio and he was working for a health system there. In San Antonio, Brad helped spread these “Lean Daily Management” practices at the Baptist system and University Health System. I was able to come visit and see how this process was engaging leaders and staff at UHS (see photos below).
You can learn more about Brad's book at his website, which includes a two-page PDF on how these methods can improve patient flow.
Streaming Player (Run Time 44:20)
For a link to this episode, refer people to www.leanblog.org/260.
Topics & links for this episode:
- Brad's background and how he got started with Lean
- How does he define “Lean Daily Management?”
- Why is LDM important for hospitals and what impact do you see?
- Why is focusing on quality the right approach?
- What's the current leadership gap in hospitals? How did we get there and how can be fix it?
- Why ROUNDING on the board is important, not just having a board
- Why it's important to put in the effort around servant leadership.
- Why it's important to round “with a curious attitude,” asking “what can we do for you?” and “what sucks about your job?”
- A3 problem solving as a coaching model
- “Leaders can abuse LDM if they only focus on cost or finance…”
For earlier episodes of my podcast, visit the main Podcast page, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS, through Android apps, or via Apple Podcasts. You can also subscribe and listen via Stitcher.
Thanks for listening!
Some photos from visiting University Health System in 2015:
Visiting with a group from The Netherlands…
A board in a health clinic… note that Lean Daily Management isn't just about putting up boards…
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Check out my latest book, The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation:
Comment from LinkedIn:
Thanks Mark and Brad for a great podcast. I am looking forward to reading Brad’s book. After hearing the discussion I did some digging and the work that Brad describes in his book has the same roots as our MaineHealth work in Lean Daily Management (discussed in episode 252). Erik Fredrick the COO that brought LDM to MaineHealth and Brad are old colleagues.
In other words, I am another data point to suggest that the work Brad describes here and in his book is doable and worthwhile!
Great discussion on “when is the best time to deploy financial metrics to the nursing staff?” – “Ideally never”. My experience confirms the general sense of purpose caregivers share rarely involves improving the bottom line for the organization.