Reviews and Commentary

"Mark Graban is the consummate translator of the vernacular of the Toyota Production System into the everyday parlance of health care. With each concept and its application, the reader is challenged to consider what is truly possible in the delivery of health care if only standardized systems borrowed from reliable industries, were implemented. Graban provides those trade secrets in an understandable and transparent fashion."

Richard Shannon, MD, Chief of Medicine
Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

"Mark Graban's book has documented what is now happening in hospitals all across America as we learn to apply the Toyota Production System methodology to healthcare. This book lays out the nuts and bolts of the lean methodology and also describes the more difficult challenges, which have to do with managing change. Graban's book is full of wins -- these are the same type of wins that are happening at Thedacare every day. I wish I could have read this six years ago, as it might have prevented some of the mistakes we made in our lean transformation journey."

John S. Toussaint, MD, President/CEO
ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value

"There is an enormous shortfall between the healthcare we could receive and what we actually get. Mark Graban explains how those in the system can make care delivery better for everyone -- patients, providers, and payers."

Steven Spear, Senior Lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Senior Fellow, Institute for Healtchare Improvement

"The concepts outlined in this book are the most powerful tools that I have ever encountered to foster innovation, ownership, and accountability at the front line staff level. This is a must read for any leader in today's increasingly complex healthcare industry."

Brett Lee, Ph.D.,FACHE, Vice President, Children's Medical Center Dallas

"Coupled with a foundation of alignment and accountability, the ideas in this book provide a powerful tool to help hospitals get closer to the goal we all want - perfect care."
Quint Studer, Founder of the Studer Group and Author of
Hardwiring Excellence: Purpose, Worthwhile Work, Making a Difference and
Results That Last: Hardwiring Behaviors That Will Take Your Company to the Top

"Mark Graban's work has been a steady companion in the three years I have been studying and applying LEAN in health care. He has an accurate sense of how things work in health systems, and he brings a patient-centered perspective that makes me want to do more for the people we serve."

Ted Eytan, MD, Medical Director of Health Informatics & Web Services

"Lean health care is becoming a global movement. The reasons given are overrun costs, errors that compromise patient safety, time of patients wasted, and general bureaucratic inefficiency. In lean terms the problem is how to eliminate waste. Health care is different than car making. This is true but many, many hospitals are finding the principles of the Toyota Production System apply well and are making remarkable improvements. Unfortunately the remarkable improvements are in specific areas and challenging to sustain because of a mysterious ingredient which the folks at Toyota seem to understand quite well--humans. The humans that health care exists to help also operate the system and are far from perfect. Toyota's system is actually designed to support the development of people, not to provide a quick fix set of technical solutions, and this takes time and patience.

Many health care consultants have rebadged themselves as lean consultants and do not understand the real thinking behind the Toyota Production System. Mark Graban is an exception. He has worked hard to study the philosophy and stay true to the thinking of Toyota . His book is a welcome translation of the Toyota Production System into language any health care professional can understand."

Jeffrey K. Liker, Professor, University of Michigan and Author of the Toyota Way series

"The medical community has a tremendous opportunity to learn methods and techniques to improve the quality and efficiency of care and reduce costs, while at the same time engaging the staff in these efforts. Mark Graban has deep experience applying lean in the healthcare field, and in his book provides an outline of how to transfer concepts originally developed in manufacturing into the unique environment of medical care. Don't miss the opportunity to learn and apply some great ideas in your organization."

David Meier, Co-Author of the best selling books, The Toyota Way Fieldbook and
Toyota Talent

"It is obvious that Mark has spent time in the trenches of healthcare, and understands the complexities of applying the Lean philosophy and tools to that environment. If you want to improve your chances of surviving in today's healthcare system (both literally and figuratively), read this book."

Dean Bliss, Lean Improvement Specialist, Iowa Health System

"Finally! The healthcare industry has needed this book for many years. Informative, understandable, and timely, Mark's book will leave you with an appreciation for what Lean is and what it can do for your hospital. After you read this book I'll be surprised if you don't make implementing Lean your highest strategic priority."

Jim Adams, Senior Director, Laboratory Operations, Children's Medical Center Dallas

"Mark Graban provides a helpful translation of the terms, practices, and tools of lean thinking into hospitals' everyday situations and challenges. His book illustrates lean's elements with many actual examples of lean applications in typical hospital practices and procedures. Graban's book should definitely be on the reading list for those who want to bring the benefits of lean thinking to healthcare."

David Mann, Office Lean Team Leader, Steelcase
Author, Creating a Lean Culture: Tools to Sustain Lean Conversions

"The lean approach to healthcare, including a strong emphasis on culture, is the best way to ensure that we care for our patients in the very best way possible. This book emphasizes not on the methodology, but also the cultural changes that must occur for sustainability - something often forgotten in change management."

Beverly B. Rogers, MD
Chief of Pathology, Children's Medical Center Dallas
Professor of Pathology, UT Southwestern Medical School