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Chapter 8
Using Patient Experience
to Drive Innovation
I would say that we have a culture that is really about our patients;
doing everything that we can for them and being willing to change our
ways of doing our daily work for their benefit. We have a lot of staff
members who are really engaged in that work; willing to try new things
and be creative and innovative.
—Jennifer Richards
Administrative Director, Virginia Mason Medical Center
A misconception about lean thinking that may have slowed its acceptance in
healthcare is the belief that lean’s focus on efficiency, flow, and standardization is so
mechanistic that it ignores the customer and the ...