Sami Bahri, DDS
Dr. Bahri runs a private dental practice in Jacksonville, Florida that he started in 1990 after years working in the teaching, administrative, and private practice fields. Eager to learn from other industries how to manage resources to satisfy customers, he started searching outside dentistry, and ended up studying and trying Total Quality Management and Six Sigma, among other systems.

In 1996, Dr. Bahri read Lean Thinking by James Womack and Daniel Jones, and started implementing lean management principles in his dental office. He successfully reorganized his work and practice around the goal of "one-patient flow."  

Dr. Bahri is the first dentist known to utilize lean techniques to continuously improve the delivery of quality dental care. He has been called “The Leanest Dentist on the Planet.” He has been a keynote speaker at the Shingo Prize Conference, where he was recognized as the “World's First Lean Dentist”. He lectures nationally and internationally, to healthcare and manufacturing groups, to share his experience on implementing lean management in the dental practice.

• Video Podcast #5 with Dr. Sami Bahri, DDS, "The World's First Lean Dentist"
  Mark Graban interviews Dr. Bahri about his work in lean dentistry and his book Follow the Learner. Dr. Bahri talks about his role as chief learner in the dental office and how he got started with lean.
• Video Podcast #9 with Dr. Sami Bahri, DDS
  Dr. Bahri discusses what he has seen and learned recently from touring manufacturing plants and the importance of applying single-piece flow to your core processes (in his case, his patient flow).
• Follow the Learner Webinar Follow-Up Q & A
  Dr. Bahri answers questions that he could not get to in his webinar, addressing topics such as lean leadership and how lean manufacturing tools, such as one-piece flow, were applied in a service company.
• Dentist Drills Down to the Root Causes of Office Waste
  An overview of Dr. Bahri's lean journey, starting with how he educated himself and his staff in the concepts, validated the approach in pilot projects, and then transformed his practice.
• Jacksonville health care providers cut waste
  This article from the Jacksonville Business Journal highlights lean improvements in four healthcare organizations including the Bahri Dental Group.
• Podcast: Using Lean in Professional Services
  Business 901 interview of Dr. Bahri, where he gives an overview of his lean journey and the transferrable lessons he has learned along he way.

Webinar

• Follow the Learner: The Role of a Leader in Creating a Lean Culture
  Featuring Dr. Sami Bahri, DDS
  View the Webinar
  Download the Slides
  Download the Podcast
  View the Written Transcript
  Read the Follow-Up Q & A