On track to LEAN management for healthcare
On track to lean management for healthcare

American healthcare organizations are adopting the Lean principles to improve quality and efficiency while controlling costs. When well executed, Lean transforms how an organization works and creates an insatiable quest for improvement.

In order for lean principles to take root, leaders must first work to create an organizational culture that is to committed to developing people and receptive to lean thinking. The commitment to lean must start at the very top of the organization, and all staff should be involved in helping to redesign processes to improve flow and reduce waste.  The goal is to develop staff to solve problems and improve performance.

Kim Barnas advises the top leaders within healthcare organizations, providing the tools and framework for successful lean implementations.  Her methods are based on the elements of the Lean Management System.  She uses these elements to break down the Lean process into concrete manageable pieces, providing the tools and education for a successful transformation of the healthcare organization.

Leaders who wish to successfully incorporate a lean culture cannot do so by edict. They must intervene, teach, coach and develop people to behave differently, allowing them to experience beneficial results that will reinforce the new values and beliefs to form a lean organization. Kim Barnas will guide you through this transformation.

Contact Kim today.

Beyond Heroes

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"Beyond Heroes: A Lean Management System for Healthcare"

 

Beyond Heroes

Beyond Heroes shows the reader, step by step, how ThedaCare teams developed the system, using the stories of its doctors, nurses and administrators to illustrate. The book explores each of the eight essential components of the lean system, from front-line problem solving with the scientific method to daily team huddles and creating standard work for leaders all the way to the top of an organization.

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Kim Barnas

Kim Barnas has a Master’s of Science in Health Care Administration and served as a Senior Vice President of ThedaCare and President of Appleton Medical Center and Theda Clark Medical Center.

Kim has enjoyed the opportunities provided by ThedaCare as they have been on their lean journey for the past nine years.  The ThedaCare Improvement System (LEAN) path started with Value Stream mapping followed by improvement events, and projects.  She was involved in leading two of the initial Value Streams for OB and Cancer Services.  

As the journey continued, a new challenge emerged—the need for a systematic method to sustain improvement, clarify daily continuous improvement opportunities and deliver on strategic deployment.  To meet this need, Kim and her team led the development of a management system.  This lean management system is designed to deliver improved performance through a predictable process that develops leaders, identifies defects, solves problems and develops people.  In 2014 Kim authored a book titled “Beyond Heroes, A Lean Management System for Healthcare” based on this journey.

This U-tube video discusses the problem solving huddle and an element of the system. (Click the blue highlighted text)
This second U-tube video discusses the importance of standard work as an element of a lean management system.

 

kim-barnas.jpgKim Barnas