Project Aisha addressed the critical maternal mortality crisis in Nigeria where approximately 1 in 5 global maternal deaths occur by targeting clinical complications like postpartum hemorrhage and systemic delays in care. To tackle these bottlenecks, the initiative empowered healthcare workers with improvement science tools such as fishbone diagrams, process maps, and 5 Whys to identify […]
On the Lean Six Sigma for Good podcast, Brion interviews Mike Wrathall, an Agile and Sustainability consultant about his extensive work background helping organizations in the private and public sector improve. Projects included social housing, homelessness, domestic violence victims, public education and regenerative agriculture. You can view the notes and transcript at https://leansixsigmaenvironment.org/index.php/e131-agile-and-sustainability-in-the-uk-with-mike-wrathall/, or watch […]
Written by Brion
In healthcare, words are used to describe colors like “a sort of dark yellow” and “probably amber” which creates inaccurate communication and less optimal clinical decisions. There was a lack of standardization in the colors, and efforts were made to resolve this problem, which is at the heart of any lean improvement. A website called […]
Written by Brion
In an innovative cross-industry collaboration, clinicians at Great Ormond Street Hospital applied Formula 1 pit stop principles to high-risk patient handovers from the operating room to the intensive care unit (ICU). Recognizing that the transfer phase was a period of significant risk characterized by role confusion and communication breakdowns, doctors studied the Ferrari and Williams […]
Written by Brion
Lean management was successfully implemented by the humanitarian organization Medair Somalia despite the highly challenging context of a conflict-ridden nation, Somalia. Abdinoor Hassan and Andrew Parris conducted training and kaizen event facilitation to lead the teams in four impact areas. A one-day Lean training was conducted in the capital Mogadishu, with 22 Medair staff and leaders, and […]
Written by Brion
Dr. Jean Kaseya, the director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) stated that 60% of traditional foreign health aid to Africa was essentially wasted. The waste was due to fragmentation, inefficiencies, and cases where foreign aid didn’t align with specific government priorities. This assertion, which suggests African countries need significantly […]
Written by Brion
A recent initiative by Washington State University (WSU) has demonstrated significant success in improving patient safety and reducing hospitalizations by tackling a pervasive issue in home health care: medication list discrepancies. It is estimated that 90% of patients receiving care at home have at least one difference between their official medication list and what they […]
Written by Brion
Lean for Hope is an initiative associated with Honsha (founded by Sammy Obara), which focuses on applying Lean principles to create positive social impact. Lean methodologies, originally developed for improving efficiency in manufacturing, are adapted to help organizations in the social sector enhance their operations, reduce waste, and better serve their communities, such as education, […]
Written by Brion
The climate emergency is not just an environmental issue, it’s the single greatest public health challenge of the 21st century, projected to cause hundreds of thousands of additional deaths globally each year. The healthcare sector itself is a significant contributor to this crisis, accounting for approximately 10% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the […]
Written by Brion
Shane Daughenbaugh interviews his former mentor at the State of Nebraska, Matt Singh. He is currently a Senior Project Manager at Children’s Nebraska. Prior to that he spent 8 years as the director of operational excellence and master black belt for the Department of Administrative Services in the state of Nebraska. He became certified as […]
Written by Brion