Lean Enterprise Institute Logo
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter Signup
  • Cart (0)
  • Account
  • Search
Lean Enterprise Institute Logo
  • Explore Lean
        • What is Lean?
        • The Lean Transformation Framework
        • A Brief History of Lean
        • Lexicon Terms
        • Topics to explore
          • Operations
          • Lean Product & Process Development
          • Administration & Support
          • Problem-Solving
          • Coaching
          • Executive Leadership
          • Line Management
  • The Lean Post
        • Subscribe to see exclusive content
          • Subscribe
        • Featured posts
          office sign that says - Kaizen Promotion Office

          Ask Art: Why Do I Need a...

          WLEI Podcast with author Paulo Savaget of The Four Workarounds

          Strategies for Tackling Complex Problems: a Conversation...

          • See all Posts
  • Events & Training
        • Custom Coaching and Learning Experiences
        • Co-Learning Partnerships
        • Forms and Templates
        • Featured learning
          • Improvement Kata/Coaching Kata Remotely

            April 10, 2023 | Online Live Course

          • Developing Structured Problem-Solving and Leadership Skills using A3 Thinking: Managing to Learn Remotely

            April 17, 2023 | Online Live Course

          • Hoshin Kanri Remotely: Aligning and Executing on Your Organizational Objectives

            April 21, 2023 | Online Live Course

          • Designing the Future Remotely: A Lean Product Development Immersive Learning Experience

            April 24, 2023 | Online Live Course

          • See all Events
  • Store
        • Shopping Cart
        • Featured books
          Managing to Learn: Using the A3 management process

          Managing to Learn: Using the A3 management process

          Learning to See

          Learning to See

          • See all Books
  • About Us
        • Our people
          • Senior Advisors and Staff
          • Faculty
          • Board of Directors
        • Contact Us
        • Lean Global Network
        • Press Releases
        • In the News
        • Careers
        • About us

The Lean Post / Articles / Competition Equals Lean?

Article graphic image with repeating icons

Operations

Competition Equals Lean?

September 1, 2004

Those of us in the lean movement know that even in highly competitive industries like autos, companies can go for decades before they finally get their heads around the need to create a lean process for every significant activity in their business.  And in industries where there is no “Toyota” – healthcare comes instantly to mind – someone has to make a breakthrough in applying lean principles for the first time before anyone else will feel pressure to compete.

FacebookTweetLinkedInEmailPrintComment

I was recently reading an article by Professor Michael Porter (co-authored with Professor Elizabeth Teisberg) in the June issue of the Harvard Business Review about the problem of the ever-rising costs of healthcare in combination with stagnant (and unacceptable) quality.  Being an economist, Professor Porter believes the best solution is to introduce more competition, especially at the level of specific treatments for specific diseases by letting patients choose between providers.

We’ve all wondered about the solution to the healthcare problem and Professor Porter may well be on to something.  But what I found striking about his proposal is his devout faith that competition will quickly reduce costs while dramatically improving quality.  Presto!  Competition equals lean, and all providers in healthcare will rise to a superlative level of performance.

Those of us in the lean movement have experienced something quite different:  Even in highly competitive industries like autos, we note that companies can go for decades – General Motors comes to mind – before they finally get their heads around the need to create a lean process for every significant activity in their business.  And in industries where there is no “Toyota” – healthcare comes instantly to mind – someone has to make a breakthrough in applying lean principles for the first time before anyone else will feel pressure to compete.  (Remember that if every player in an industry is fundamentally incompetent, competition can reduce provider margins but it won’t do much to reduce costs or improve quality for customers.)

So competition will surely be helpful in healthcare (as in every other sector of the economy), but it’s not likely to be sufficient. What can be sufficient is a relentless focus on creating a perfect process for every value-creating activity.  This must be at the level of the diagnosis and treatment paths for specific diseases, but it will also require a lean process for all of the activities supporting these paths: Delivery of medicines and other supplies on time with no waste and zero errors; provision of the information patients and caregivers need from scheduling, medical records, and laboratories exactly when they need it at low cost with zero errors; movement of every patient along their diagnostic or treatment path with no (costly) wasted steps, no delays, and no errors.

This is the real challenge of lean thinking for healthcare and I hope that all of us in the lean movement will share our process knowledge with our friends providing care in order to meet this challenge as quickly as possible.

 

FacebookTweetLinkedInEmailPrintComment

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related

A digitized brain exploding into vectors and jumbled computer code.

Operations

A New Era of Jidoka: How ChatGPT Could Alter the Relationship between Machines, Humans, and their Minds

Article by Matthew Savas

improvement kata coaching kata model 2

Operations

The Fundamentals of Improvement and Coaching Kata

Article by Lean Leaper

sensei back belt close up

Operations

Ask Art: Why is a Lean Sensei Necessary?

Article by Art Byrne

Related books

The Power of Process – A Story of Innovative Lean Process Development

The Power of Process – A Story of Innovative Lean Process Development

by Eric Ethington and Matt Zayko

The Gold Mine (Audio CD)

The Gold Mine (Audio CD)

by Freddy Ballé and Michael Ballé

Related events

March 19, 2024 | Optional Post-Summit Workshops March 21-22
Carlsbad, California

Lean Summit 2024

Learn more

On-Demand Online Courses

Lean Fundamentals Online Course Subscription – for Enterprise

Learn more

Explore topics

Operations graphic icon Operations
Administration & Support graphic icon Administration & Support
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

©Copyright 2000-2023 Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.
Lean Enterprise Institute, the leaper image, and stick figure are registered trademarks of Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Learn More. ACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!