Click here to hear Naida Grunden’s December 1 interview with NPR’s Pittsburgh station.

The secret is out! We know how to improve the quality, safety, efficiency and cost of American health care. In our country’s “can-do” tradition, a small Pittsburgh nonprofit persuaded regional hospitals to experiment with ideas from the world’s most efficient company—Toyota.

Applying Lean industrial principles to health care may sound unorthodox but in case after case, the staff of hospital after hospital produced dramatic, sustained improvements.

The news gets better: these techniques can be taught…and learned...in health care.

Services Offered

For 10 years, Naida Grunden has brought the practical application of Lean principles to life through her writing, speaking and teaching

• Naida is the author of The Pittsburgh Way to Efficient Healthcare: Improving Patient Care Using Toyota-Based Methods, the first and most comprehensive book to examine real Lean implementations on the ground, in healthcare settings. Most recently, the book was used as a text in an MIT seminar on healthcare systems innovation.
  
  
• She teaches introductory Lean courses for Lean Healthcare West and Healthcare Performance Partners.
  
  
• She speaks nationally and internationally on Lean healthcare for professional and lay audiences alike. Using her background knowledge of aviation safety, Naida has assisted Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger, in crafting his healthcare speeches as he connects the dots between aviation safety and medical safety (www.safetyreliability.com).

Naida Grunden’s book, The Pittsburgh Way to Efficient Healthcare: Applying Toyota- based Improvements to Healthcare, details the practical applications of the industrial techniques that have improved quality, safety, efficiency and the bottom line in real hospitals. The book ranks as a "must read" for students, clinicians, systems engineers, and for any health care organization considering Lean improvements.

Praise for the Book

"International spotlight on Lean healthcare: The Pittsburgh Way will soon be translated and published in Korean and Spanish!"