Getting LEAN : Healthcare’s Challenge
Conference Faculty
 
Patricia A. Gabow, M.D., Chief Executive Officer and Medical Director, Denver Health
  Dr. Gabow has been actively involved with issues related to health care delivery for many years. She is the principal investigator for the “Improving Efficiency through Hospital Redesign” grant funded by the AHRQ. She has been a leader for implementation of redesign concepts to improve patient safety and satisfaction, quality of care delivered, and efficiencies in the complex processes of health care. In April 2005, she was named one of the Top 25 Women in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare magazine.
 
John Long, M.D., Director of Lean Concepts, LLC, and Member of the TWI Network
  Dr. Long has practiced medicine for more than 25 years; four years managing manufacturing companies; and six years directing the Detroit Division of Lean Concepts LLC.
 
Richard Albert, M.D., Director, Department of Medicine, Denver Health
  Dr. Albert is Director of the Department of Medicine at Denver Health, and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center School of Medicine. He is currently supervising Lean projects in all the divisions of the Department of Medicine.
 
Richard Wright, M.D., Director, Community Health Services, Denver Health
  Dr. Wright has been a physician manager for primary care services for 30 years, and he has developed expertise in team development and performance improvement in the primary care setting. He has managed the implementation of numerous process improvement projects that have transformed ambulatory health care delivery systems.
 
David M. Munch, M.D., Vice President, Chief Clinical and Quality Officer, Exempla Lutheran Medical Center
  Dr. Munch has extensive experience in clinical medicine, health plan administration and hospital operations. He is responsible for Lean production implementation as well as clinical quality, safety, informatics, pharmacy and medical staff services.
 
Jeffrey Liker, Ph.D., Director, Japan Technology Management Program, University of Michigan
  Dr. Liker is a professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan. He is the director of the Japan Technology Management Program and co-director of the Lean Manufacturing Certificate Program at the University of Michigan. He is the author of best selling book “The Toyota Way”, in addition to being the principle of Optiprise, a Lean enterprise consulting firm.
 
Conference Faculty (continued)
 
Roger Gerard, Ph.D., Chief Learning Officer, ThedaCare
  Dr. Gerard has more than 30 years experience leading executive management development initiative, focusing on organizational performance improvement processes. He is one of the leaders of the Lean movement at ThedaCare. ThedaCare has been using Lean processes for more than two years, and has saved nearly $7 million in waste. Additionally, they have reduced A/R days significantly. Currently, they are running about 20 Rapid Improvement Events per month, and expect that number to increase over the next year. They also have documented quality improvements (both clinical and service), as well as significant improvements in employee engagement as a result of this methodology.
 
Christina Saint Martin, Administrative Director, Governance, Administration and VMPS, Virginia Mason Medical Center
  Christina Saint Martin is the Senior Director responsible for implementing the Virginia Mason Production System. Virginia Mason Medical Center is pursuing its goal of zero defects through the application of the Toyota Production System (Lean). This has resulted in a more effective management approach to customer service, increased quality, safety, staff satisfaction and a successful economic enterprise.
 
Michael Kaupa, JD, MBA, Senior Vice President, Lean Production, Park Nicollet Institute
  Michael Kaupa is responsible for implementing a “product” system at Park Nicollet and has extensive training in Lean. Park Nicollet received the 2004 Acclaim Award for applying the Toyota Lean Production concepts to enhance patient care. This innovative approach has helped them reduce the price of health care and achieve a realized benefit of $7.5 million in 2004.
 
Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology (CAMT)
  CAMT is a not-for-profit organization that provides customized training as well as hands-on technical assistance in Lean. Their customers estimate more than $25 million in economic benefits over the past four years.




Background photo provided by Robert Ashe for the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau