Value Stream Management for Lean Healthcare Perfect Paperback – April 1, 2009

The authors did a very good job with describing the content and providing examples of value streams, fish bones, etc. The content is accessible. If you are looking for an understandable reference, that provides examples, describes tools/techniques used & shows examples of each, this is a good reference. Compared to other Lean references, this is easier to understand, the diagrams are useful, the book length is not bad (~300 pages of content) and the font is big. I have recommended this book to my new department - Quality :). Nice job!

Lots of templates that save time when setting up projects and events on a short time span.

Was looking for more detailed information. Examples were good but not applicable to what I wanted.

An informative and comprehensive coverage of the VSM technique and process for Healthcare and certainly other professions.

This book is a comprehensive step by step implementation of lean processes in a healthcare organization. The examples utilized by the author contain a deep understanding of the internal operations of health care facilities and can be adapted to the reader's own medical practices. in 1926 Henry Ford said that "The old way was to guess. We cannot afford to guess. We cannot afford to leave any process to human judgment." (Ford) This statement could not be more true than today.

With health care costs rising at an exponential rate, the entire health system needs to find ways to increase efficiencies and reduce / eliminate waste thus control the costs and provide better service.This book provides the methodology and step by step instructions to conduct the value stream mapping exercise.Great examples of process flow charts and waste walk. The basis concepts of Pull, Standard Work and 5S are also explained very clearly.

I recently purchased this book and was amazed at the level of detail that was included. The examples are to-the-point and provide superb insights into how Lean is implemented by using simple approaches to solving problems with an engaged staff in the healthcare environment. The ED case study, the broad range of nearly every possible Lean and quality improvement tool being described in detail, the numerous case studies, the additional OR and Physician's Group case study, etc. all make this book in a class of its own. We will be purchasing these for all our managers and supervisors. This book is for operations and I agree with the authors, serious effort is required.

I found this book to be very practical in "how-to" implement Lean in healthcare processes. All our departmental managers and floor supervisors have this book and now use this as our guide for all improvement efforts. Our program of Operational Excellence is continuing evolving and this book was our latest enhancement to the program. Also, the ED case study explained throughout this book is by far the best, detailed, step-by-step explanation of how, what, why, etc. a Lean project (or any continuous improvement) project is conducted. I have read nearly all the books on Lean and this book is an exceptional analysis on exactly what needs to be done in a Kaizen project. Fantastic reference and guide for anyone in healthcare!