Many think of Lean as being utilized solely in manufacturing (particularly automotive) but in recent years other sectors such as service organizations and in particular healthcare have fully embraced lean as an improvement methodology.

One of the challenges faced when utilizing lean is the myriad of tools and techniques that are available within the methodology. For healthcare professionals – simply picking up any old Lean “how to” book won’t provide the best benefit as many of the manufacturing oriented books will appear unfamiliar and out of context.

For those learning lean it’s important to understand how the concepts fit into a hospital environment and what particular issues and constraints exist in healthcare that may not necessarily apply to traditional manufacturing organizations.

In steps the wonderful The Lean Healthcare Pocket Guide XL – a collection of the tools and techniques associated with lean and placed into a modern healthcare context.

Utilizing the same tools and techniques from the Toyota Production System – author Debra Hadfield lays out each method clearly and concisely providing sufficient detail on the common tools such as Value Stream Mapping – Standard Work, Visual Management etc.

With a range of case studies (12+) and easy to navigate structure – this pocket sized edition is great for anyone needing a quick reference guide to key concepts.

From the publisher “The Lean Healthcare Pocket Guide is the collection of input from healthcare professionals and Lean Sensei. It provides easy-to-use and easy-to-understand tools, methods, and concepts based on the world-class Toyota Motor Company. The Lean Healthcare Pocket Guide is designed for use as a quick and easy reference as you learn and implement Lean tools. The tools of 5S, continuous flow, cycle time, document tagging, error proofing, goals and outcomes, Just-In-Time, kanbans, takt, pitch plus all the other Lean tools are thoroughly defined, as well as providing the necessary steps to implement that tool. There are over 12 case studies presented throughout the book demonstrating how that tool was used in various healthcare situations.”

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