Books on Lean for Healthcare

I am sometimes asked to recommend a book on Lean. On my book blog I have given one a short review this month. Others on my shelf include:

The Elegant Solution; Toyota's formula for mastering innovation, by Matthew May

Has some good hints, tips and checklists in it. I particularly like the IDEA (Investigate, Design, Execute, Adjust) process and form. For me this has more applicability to many projects I work with in healthcare than they way PDSA's are used (probably inappropriately) to write up projects and action.

Journey to Lean; making operational change stick, by John Drew, Blair McCallum, Stefan Roggenhofer

I like this book because it sets out the hard work involved. The authors also do the full set - namely, they include and emphasise the behavioural and mindset changes required. The use of stories and examples is helpful in putting the change processes into context.

Lean Hospitals; improving quality, patient safety and employee satisfaction, by Mark Graban

Very much a lean theorist book. Lots of Japanese terms. I liked the way the book is framed specifically for healthcare and this may make it easier to grasp some of the technical language and methods. I was a bit disappointed that the focus is so much on the technical and less on the social / cultural / behavioural aspects.

Sustaining Lean healthcare programmes; a practical survival guide, by Mark Eaton and Simon Phillips.

I reviewed this book this month. Short, sweet and worth it for the glossary of definitions! Simple and most useful for beginners or for sharing with other staff who need to know a bit about Lean but don't need to be overwhelmed by too much detail.

Lean for Practitioners; an introduction to Lean for healthcare organisations, by Mark Eaton

Another short and sweet book. If you only have 45 minutes on the train to get up to speed with some Lean Thinking - then this book will work for you. Mark's style includes bullet points, short paragraphs and checklist - worked for me.

Lean for Dummies, by Natalie Sayer and Bruce Williams

Probably the most useful Lean book I have but I am too scared to walk around carrying it! Rich in detail and an excellent reference.