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Habitual Excellence, Presented by Value Capture

Habitual Excellence, Presented by Value Capture

By Value Capture

Do you want to create a healthcare organization that strives for zero harm through principles-based leadership, Lean practices, and real-time, root-cause problem solving? We share conversations with Value Capture advisors, clients, and thought leaders, exploring how to create “habitual excellence” (a phrase coined by Value Capture’s founder Paul O’Neill) by engaging everybody in creating a culture of safety - and learning. Lead your teams to the theoretical limits of perfect for staff safety, patient safety and performance, using methods from Toyota, Alcoa, Catalysis, and the Shingo Institute.
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Samuel Ashby, Legacy Health, on Fostering a Resilient Culture in Healthcare

Habitual Excellence, Presented by Value CaptureAug 10, 2021

00:00
36:25
Journey Towards Habitual Excellence: Lessons with Ed Gainey

Journey Towards Habitual Excellence: Lessons with Ed Gainey

In this podcast episode, Ken Segel, the CEO of Value Capture, meets with Mayor Ed Gainey, City of Pittsburgh, to discuss the city's journey toward habitual excellence and Mayor Gainey's leadership learnings. 

We will explore the principles of habitual excellence as exemplified by Mayor Ed Gainey of Pittsburgh. The episode delves into Gainey's leadership style, focusing on his commitment to continuous improvement and excellence in public service. It highlights Gainey's background and how his experiences have shaped his approach to leadership. Additionally, the post discusses specific initiatives and strategies implemented by Gainey to foster positive change and improvement within the Pittsburgh community. Through anecdotes and insights, the episode provides valuable lessons and inspiration for individuals and organizations striving for excellence in their respective fields.

Apr 02, 202433:08
Healthcare Horizon: Strategies for Breakthrough Change with Ken Segel and Lou Shapiro

Healthcare Horizon: Strategies for Breakthrough Change with Ken Segel and Lou Shapiro

In this podcast episode, Ken Segel, the CEO of Value Capture, engages in a conversation with Lou Shapiro on developing and deploying a strategy that breaks through and makes the kind of difference we need in healthcare right now, and it's very challenging circumstances, and trying to use this as a moment to change deeply for the better.

They will discuss lessons learned, but also, as we go forward to think about how to achieve that breakthrough as a sector and as individual institutions. 

Jan 11, 202449:22
Leadership, Strategy, and Excellence in Healthcare: A Conversation with Dr. David Zaas

Leadership, Strategy, and Excellence in Healthcare: A Conversation with Dr. David Zaas


In this podcast episode, Ken Segel, the CEO of Value Capture, engages in a conversation with Dr. David Zaas, a pulmonary and critical care physician with extensive leadership experience in major health systems. The episode revolves around the theme of strategy deployment and its importance in healthcare. Dr. Zaas, who currently serves as the president at Wake Forest Baptist, shares insights into his leadership philosophy and how it has been shaped by his background as a physician-scientist.

The discussion delves into the challenges facing healthcare, such as cost pressures, consolidation, and job losses, and the need for authentic, optimistic leadership to navigate these issues. Dr. Zaas emphasizes the privilege of working in healthcare and the opportunity to make a significant impact on the lives of patients, communities, and caregivers.

Dr. Zaas breaks down his approach to strategy into three key components. First, he underscores the importance of a people strategy, where creating an environment of respect, value, diversity, and continuous improvement is crucial. Second, he emphasizes the need to build robust management systems and processes to support the organization's growth and adaptability. Finally, the discussion addresses setting bold goals and achieving excellence, focusing on eliminating harm, striving for top-tier performance, and fostering academic discovery.

The episode highlights the significance of creating a strong foundation in culture and processes before setting ambitious goals, and it explores how these principles can differentiate healthcare organizations and drive them towards excellence.

Nov 13, 202342:22
A Chief of Surgery's Leadership Journey

A Chief of Surgery's Leadership Journey

How a leadership journey along with an organization transformation brought one leader from considering leaving the profession to feeling engaged in his work again.

Oct 31, 202301:07:28
Getting to Zero Harm for Patients and Staff with DEIA and Psychological Safety Concepts [Webinar]

Getting to Zero Harm for Patients and Staff with DEIA and Psychological Safety Concepts [Webinar]

View video and more here

ay 16, 2023, from 1 to 2:30 pm ET

A panel discussion with a team of leaders from Value Capture, LLC, clinicians, Continuous Improvement professionals, and DEIA practitioners (scroll down for bios):

  • Deondra Wardelle
  • Mark Graban
  • Debbie Sears Barnard
  • Alan Wikler, Psy.D.
  • Gerald Harris
  • Ken Segel

About the Session

Discover what getting to zero harm means and explore how getting to zero harm for patients and staff can be achieved by emphasizing the most fundamental aspect of Lean, actively showing respect for others.

Recognize how combining Continuous Improvement, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) and the four stages of Psychological Safety can promote health equity and improve patient and staff safety.

Discuss intentional approaches to create and develop equitable, psychologically and physically safe spaces for diverse healthcare staff and patients of underrepresented groups that benefit staff engagement and the overall patient experience.

May 16, 202301:30:48
Preview: Getting to Zero Harm for Patients & Staff with DEIA and Psychological Safety Concepts

Preview: Getting to Zero Harm for Patients & Staff with DEIA and Psychological Safety Concepts

Deondra Wardelle and Mark Graban discuss the ongoing blog series and upcoming panel discussion webinar on the theme of "Getting to Zero Harm for Patients with DEIA and Psychological Safety. They share what sparked the #RootCauseRacism® collaboration with Value Capture, LLC. They also discuss the power of connecting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) to Psychological Safety as a way to promote health equity and offer countermeasures that improve patient and staff safety. Blog series: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/blog/tag/rootcauseracism Webinar registration (for the live event or recording): https://www.valuecapturellc.com/webinar-panel-zero-harm-patients-staff-deia-psychological-safety

May 09, 202332:56
Understanding Moral Injury in Healthcare with Wendy Dean, MD

Understanding Moral Injury in Healthcare with Wendy Dean, MD

Psychiatrist, expert on "moral injury" in healthcare, author

Welcome to Episode #77 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Episode page with transcript, video, links, and more

Our guest today is Wendy Dean, MD, a psychiatrist. She is the President and co-founder of “Moral Injury of Healthcare,” a nonprofit organization focused on alleviating workforce distress.

A seminal article she co-authored with Simon Talbot, MD for STATNews in July of 2018 began the conversation about moral injury in healthcare.

She’s the co-author of the upcoming book If I Betray These Words: Moral Injury in Medicine and Why It's So Hard for Clinicians to Put Patients First. It will be available April 4th and you can pre-order it now through the publisher.

In today's episode, Dr. Dean talks with host Mark Graban, about topics and questions, including:

  • What is “moral injury”?

Definition 1: “perpetrating, failing to prevent, bearing witness to, or learning about acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations.”

Definition 2: “a deep soul wound that pierces a person’s identity, sense of morality, and relationship to society.”

  • Why is moral injury different (and worse) than “burnout”?
  • What’s the effect of moral injury?
  • Can anything be done to reverse moral injury and its effects? Or just need to stop injuring others?
  • What are some of the primary causes of moral injury in healthcare?
  • How is the healthcare system broken?
  • Recommendations related to EMR/EHR?
  • Getting rid of "the stupid stuff"
  • The role of psychological safety in creating an enabling environment…
  • Why did you stop practicing as a psychiatrist?
  • What’s the Level of moral injury in countries like Canada or England that have very different healthcare systems?
  • What reforms do you recommend? With urgency...
  • A "Clinician Protection Act"?

Click to visit the main Habitual Excellence podcast page.

Feb 08, 202337:41
Webinar: Why Does the U.S. Need a National Patient Safety Board?

Webinar: Why Does the U.S. Need a National Patient Safety Board?

See video and more via this page

The recording of the webinar panel that was presented on January 25, 2023.

A panel discussion with:

  • Karen Wolk Feinstein, PhD, President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative
  • Ken Segel, CEO of Value Capture
  • Moderated by Mark Graban, Value Capture

1

Jan 25, 202301:00:11
Preview: Why Does the U.S. Need a National Patient Safety Board?

Preview: Why Does the U.S. Need a National Patient Safety Board?

Register here

January 25, 2023, 1 to 2 pm ET

A panel discussion with:

  • Karen Wolk Feinstein, PhD, President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative
  • Ken Segel, CEO of Value Capture
  • Moderated by Mark Graban, Value Capture

The Institute of Medicine’s groundbreaking report, To Err is Human, was published 20 years ago and spurred a vigorous effort to improve patient safety, but preventable medical errors still cause an estimated 250,000 deaths a year in the United States, making this problem the third-leading cause of death. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has put the healthcare workforce in crisis, and safety is suffering.

Well-intentioned efforts to improve processes and change behavior in the healthcare industry have been decentralized and resulted in minimal improvements, says Karen Wolk Feinstein, Ph.D. The failure can be traced, in part, to the lack of a single federal agency that investigates healthcare errors and identifies ways to prevent them, she says.

Dr. Feinstein is spearheading the creation of a proposed federal independent agency, the National Patient Safety Board (NPSB), modeled in part after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Commercial Aviation Safety Team, that would identify and anticipate significant harm in healthcare; provide expertise to study the context and causes of harm and solutions; and create solutions to prevent patient safety events from occurring.

This idea is fully supported by Ken Segel, as he has discussed in this blog post. He will join Dr. Feinstein for the discussion.

In December, legislation was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives: H.R.9377 – the National Patient Safety Board Act.

Learning Objectives

This session will cover topics including:

  • The inspiration provided by the late Paul O'Neill, Sr.
  • What progress have we seen on patient safety in the past 20 years? Why haven't we seen more?
  • How can we spread proven approaches for preventing harm?
  • Why create another new agency, the NPSB?
  • What models were used to formulate the NPSB?
  • What coalition have you formed to support the NPSB, and how can attendees help?

You'll be able to ask our expert panelists live questions about this legislation, the NPSB, and patient safety in general.

Jan 12, 202314:21
Washington Health System CEO Brook Ward on Innovation and Iteration for Nursing and Patient Care

Washington Health System CEO Brook Ward on Innovation and Iteration for Nursing and Patient Care

President and CEO of Washington Health System

Episode page with links, transcript and more: https://valuecapturellc.com/he74

Welcome to Episode #74 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Joining us today as our guest is Brook Ward, the President and CEO of Washington Health System (WHS) in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in that role since July 2019. From 2010 to June 2019, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

In his role, Brook provides leadership, direction, and administration across the entire Washington Health System, which includes a large community hospital, a small rural hospital, a 70-provider physician group, a community wellness center, residency and fellowship programs, a school of nursing program and onsite medical simulation center and joint ventures in the areas of hospice, senior living, home health, cancer center and others.

Brook is a graduate of Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids MI, with a master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA). He also has a Bachelor of Science in Health Care System Administration from Ferris State University, Big Rapids MI and received an Associates of Allied Science in Radiology from Ferris State University.

Today we’re going to be talking about how the WHS has never (I repeat, never) used a traveler nurse in their system. Acknowledging the travel nurses are skilled and they're good people, Brook makes a compelling case that quality and safety is better with full time staff members who are not "strangers" to the organization and how they do things. Brook also discusses the program that they created (and continue to iterate) that's win/win/win for the system, staff, and patients.

In today's episode, Brook talks with host Mark Graban, about topics and questions, including:

  • How bad are the staffing challenges in your area?
  • Biggest concern - not just economics, but safety for patients and staff
  • Great people, but there’s a risk… safety, morale, not knowing our systems
  • It's their "fourth or fifth iteration" -- what's the latest iteration and change?
  • Staff get almost the same comp by picking up extra shifts, without needing to travel
  • Telling peers about it — can’t get people too interested?? Why?
  • Expense gets talked about more… is there research about the impact? Future retrospective studies??
  • Iteration — Impact of extra shifts over time??
  • Meeting with nurses to learn what’s working and not working
  • Risk of burnout and fatigue — constant dialogue
  • PILOT — Inpatient innovation unit to pilot and test things around team-based nursing
  • So speaking of safety, you created a safety index — tell us about that? "Washington Hospital Patient Safety Score"
  • Tell us about the Washington Performance System — respect, their version of Lean/TPS — your key influences??
  • "Permission to try things and fail” — how to create that culture?

Click to visit the main Habitual Excellence podcast page.


Dec 07, 202240:02
Using a Rapid-Cycle Learning System to Tackle Turnover & Attrition [Webinar]

Using a Rapid-Cycle Learning System to Tackle Turnover & Attrition [Webinar]

View the slides, video, and more

Presented by two leaders from Duke HomeCare & Hospice:  

Cooper Linton, Associate Vice President, Duke HomeCare & Hospice 

Janet Burgess, Director Patient Care Services 

Mike Radtke, from Value Capture, will also be part of the Q&A

Duke Home Health (DHH) faced a crisis of nursing turnover, even before COVID hit. Staffing retention is a major issue across all of healthcare -- please join us for this impactful and practical webinar regardless of where you work within the broader healthcare system — home health or otherwise!

Powered by a system-wide quest for zero harm throughout Duke Health, DHH leaders used this philosophy and accompanying principles to identify root causes, then build rapid-cycle learning into improvement and management systems. Investigation revealed poor staff engagement and excessive work-process burdens, leading to significant negative patient impact, referring-customer dissatisfaction, and financial harms.

To resolve these problems, DHH’s rapid-cycle learning system, rooted in the principle of respect, involved:

  • Understanding of current condition
  • Leadership behavior changes to quickly respond to staff needs, remove barriers, and coach problem-solving
  • Tiered-huddle management system to elicit and escalate problems, especially safety problems, and vitally, ensure psychological safety so frontline staff and managers raise issues
  • The willingness to shed traditional leadership methods, to experiment, iterate and be perpetual learners

So far, RN turnover has been reduced from 75% to 18% (annualized rates).

These lessons are transferrable to many different settings, so please attend if you work outside of home care.

Learning Objectives

This session will provide practical tips on how to design systems that produce:

  • Responsive, supportive, effective leaders
  • Empowered, engaged safe employees
  • Better patient and financial outcomes


Dec 06, 202201:03:43
Learn How to Reduce Nursing Turnover and Attrition in Healthcare — Free Webinar

Learn How to Reduce Nursing Turnover and Attrition in Healthcare — Free Webinar

Webinar preview -- Register here to watch live or get the recording

Nursing turnover is very likely costing your organization millions of dollars. But you don't have to just accept that… you can fix it.

I'm happy to be moderating a webinar that is being hosted by Value Capture, presented by two leaders from Duke Health who have reduced nursing attrition from 75% to 18% (annualized rates) in just over a year.

Using a Rapid-Cycle Learning System to Tackle Turnover & Attrition

It comes down to leadership.

Duke HomeCare & Hospice reduced nursing turnover from 75% to 18% in one year's time.

The same principles and systems they used can work in ANY type of healthcare setting!

Join us for a free webinar on December 6th, presented by Cooper Linton and Janet Burgess, two leaders from that organization.

How did they reduce nursing attrition? How did their teams do this?

  1. They worked hard to understand the current condition, instead of jumping to solutions
  2. Leaders changed their behaviors to quickly respond to staff needs, remove barriers, and coach them on problem-solving (instead of having all the solutions themselves)
  3. Their tiered huddle management system, with a focus on psychological safety making it safe for them to raise issues so safety problems and other issues could be solved
  4. Leaders were willing to shed traditional leadership methods, to experiment, iterate and be perpetual learners.

Now you can learn from them – their process and their results.

Join us Tuesday December 6th from 1 to 2 pm eastern – it's free… join us live or we'll send you the recording.

Nov 29, 202202:36
HSS CEO Lou Shapiro on Culture as Strategy & How to Sustain Habitual Excellence

HSS CEO Lou Shapiro on Culture as Strategy & How to Sustain Habitual Excellence

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

Joining us today as our guest is Louis (Lou) A. Shapiro. He is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hospital for Special Surgery HSS. He has served in this role since October 2006.

Under Lou’s leadership, HSS has experienced significant growth, expansion of facilities and recognition as the world leader in its specialty areas of orthopedics, rheumatology and their related disciplines.

Lou has more than 30 years of healthcare experience, including as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania, and as a leader in the healthcare practice at McKinsey & Company. He began his career at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, where he served in a number of capacities.

Today we’re going to be talking about how the culture at HSS contributes to their habitual excellence, including 13 years being ranked #1 at what they do as a specialty hospital for musculoskeletal care. What's the role of hiring the best of the best and how does a culture help them thrive and stay? What can be learned from the HSS approach that delivers such great value, including incredibly low infection rates.

In today's episode, Lou talks with with host Mark Graban, about topics and questions including:

  • Patients being willing to travel to HSS for better care and service (Net Promoter Score of 94)
  • HSS will be celebrating its 160th year anniversary
  • Do other organizations who are losing patients to HSS look to them for how to improve and compete?
  • Why Lou doesn't compare HSS to anybody else
  • Sharing data transparently
  • Culture as strategy
  • Would the HSS management model and culture translate to a general hospital or system?
  • Commitment to culture on top of hiring the very best (and keeping them)
  • Breaking down tradeoffs: better flow, faster care can also be more caring care, higher quality care, safer care
  • Comparing costs - not just per episode, but across the continuum including conservative care
  • The importance of not becoming a commodity
  • Being visible and accessible as a leader
  • "Excellence" as one of the values of the organization and realizing you're not perfect
  • Aiming for and wanting ZERO injuries, infections, complications and ZERO dissatisfied patients
Nov 02, 202238:18
Seizing the Healthcare Safety Opportunity: Using the “Playbook” of Paul O’Neill [Webinar Recording]

Seizing the Healthcare Safety Opportunity: Using the “Playbook” of Paul O’Neill [Webinar Recording]

Get slides and more

Presented on October 18, 2022

Presented by

  • Ken Segel, CEO of Value Capture
  • Mark Graban, Senior Advisor with Value Capture.

In healthcare organizations, the COVID crisis has damaged workers’ safety, both physically and psychologically.  Many organizations are struggling deeply with morale, and face difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff.

It's been demonstrated that every institution can rebuild trust and solve these challenges, by dramatically growing its ability to keep providers and patients safe by leading and engaging everyone in different ways.

Paul O’Neill, the former Alcoa CEO, US Treasury Secretary, healthcare safety pioneer, and Value Capture’s first non-executive Chairman, relentlessly demonstrated a leadership “playbook” that started with workforce safety as the lever to achieve habitual excellence, which produced world-leading results in every core measure.

The webinar will bring O’Neill’s approach to life for attending leaders by comparing typical practices in healthcare with case examples from Alcoa and the institutions in healthcare that have applied this "playbook."

Learning Objectives

At the end of this webinar, you will understand:

  • The differences between the framework demonstrated by Paul O’Neill vs. typical leadership approaches
  • Applications of the "playbook" principles via case examples that illustrate each critical component
  • How to use safety as a non-arguable lever for creating habits that lead to habitual excellence in all measures
  • The breakthrough results that have been achieved through this approach

The recording page also includes "deeper dive" information including:

  • Video clips
  • Free eBooks
  • Podcast episodes
  • Blog posts
  • And more


Oct 21, 202201:04:06
Webinar Promo: Seizing the Healthcare Safety Opportunity: Using the “Playbook” of Paul O’Neill

Webinar Promo: Seizing the Healthcare Safety Opportunity: Using the “Playbook” of Paul O’Neill

Register for the webinar

Attend live on October 18 at 1 pm ET, or register to see the recording using the same link

Presented by

  • Ken Segel, CEO of Value Capture
  • Mark Graban, Senior Advisor with Value Capture.

In healthcare organizations, the COVID crisis has damaged workers’ safety, both physically and psychologically.  Many organizations are struggling deeply with morale, and face difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff.

It's been demonstrated that every institution can rebuild trust and solve these challenges, by dramatically growing its ability to keep providers and patients safe by leading and engaging everyone in different ways.

Paul O’Neill, the former Alcoa CEO, US Treasury Secretary, healthcare safety pioneer, and Value Capture’s first non-executive Chairman, relentlessly demonstrated a leadership “playbook” that started with workforce safety as the lever to achieve habitual excellence, which produced world-leading results in every core measure.

The webinar will bring O’Neill’s approach to life for attending leaders by comparing typical practices in healthcare with case examples from Alcoa and the institutions in healthcare that have applied this "playbook."

Learning Objectives

At the end of this webinar, you will understand:

  • The differences between the framework demonstrated by Paul O’Neill vs. typical leadership approaches
  • Applications of the "playbook" principles via case examples that illustrate each critical component
  • How to use safety as a non-arguable lever for creating habits that lead to habitual excellence in all measures
  • The breakthrough results that have been achieved through this approach
Oct 05, 202204:45
Leading With Safety: Leah Binder and Dr. Rick Shannon

Leading With Safety: Leah Binder and Dr. Rick Shannon

Episode page with video clip, transcript, and more

Welcome to Episode #71 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Joining us today as our guests are Leah Binder and Dr. Richard Shannon.

Leah Binder is President & CEO of The Leapfrog Group, representing employers and other purchasers of health care calling for improved safety and quality in hospitals. Under her leadership, The Leapfrog Group launched the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, which assigns letter grades assessing the safety of general hospitals across the country.

Richard P. Shannon, MD serves as the Chief Quality Officer for Duke Health. He is responsible for the overall direction, leadership and operational management of the quality and safety programs of Duke Health, and provides leadership in strengthening a quality culture where everyone is engaged and respected.

Leah and Rick are both amongst the great lineup of presenters at an executive seminar that’s being hosted by Duke Health in Durham, NC — on September 15th and 16th — titled “Leading with Safety.”

Today we’re going to be talking about the urgent need to improve safety and quality in healthcare — and what leading organizations are doing to make progress toward ideal care and zero harm.

In today's episode, Leah and Rick talk with host Mark Graban, about topics and questions including:

  • How would you describe the landscape of patient safety today?
  • 20 years since the IOM Report - accelerating in the past decade? Getting worse during the pandemic?
  • Headline: “U.S. Hospitals Are Getting Safer for Patients, Study Finds” - Certain adverse events down from about 20% of patients to 10%… thoughts?
  • What’s the difference between the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade and the Leapfrog Hospital Survey / ASC Survey?
  • Beyond the grades, what do you see happening in the A hospitals vs. the others with lower grades??
  • Rick — Tell us about Duke Health’s language around having a “commitment to zero harm” and how that’s not just a slogan? How do you make practical and meaningful progress toward zero harm?
  • Leah — How do employers look at the issue and what are they asking for or demanding now?
  • Why are we doing this seminar for CEOs and the C-suite instead of quality leaders??
  • Rick, why host the seminar at Duke Health?
  • The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020


Jul 26, 202244:58
Dr. David Zaas on Lean Management Systems in Healthcare

Dr. David Zaas on Lean Management Systems in Healthcare

CEO for the MUSC Health Charleston Division and the chief clinical officer for MUSC Health.

Welcome to Episode #70 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Joining us today as our guest is David Zaas, MD, MBA. He is the chief executive officer for the MUSC Health Charleston Division and the chief clinical officer for MUSC Health.

Dr. David Zaas is a pulmonary and critical care medicine physician with an interest in advanced lung diseases and lung transplantation. Dr. Zaas's research interests have focused on improving outcomes from lung transplantation including the role of infectious complication and organ rejection. Dr. Zaas is also actively engaged in the education of students and graduate trainees as well as a leader in hospital administration.

Dr. Zaas graduated from Yale University in 1994.

He completed his medical degree at Northwestern University in 1998 and did his internship and residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He completed his fellowship training at Duke in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine in 2005.

He formerly served as medical director for lung transplantation at Duke. Dr. Zaas joined the MUSC faculty in 2020 and he is a professor of medicine at MUSC.

In today's episode, Dr. Zaas talks with host Mark Graban, about topics and questions including:

  • If a lean management system is the solution, lets talk first about the problem statements that make an LMS necessary and helpful… what is the biggest pain point or problem?
  • How has that problem statement evolved with Covid?
  • The mistake of jumping in - can be compassionate about that...
  • “How do we develop trust… absolutely critical…”
  • Tips for starting to build trust — can’t just order people to trust you?
  • “Wish we had started it earlier…”
  • How do you define a Lean management system – what are the major components?
  • “Help chain” — tell us more about what that means and how that works…
  • “Long standing commitment to just culture”
  • Zero harm as a goal - articulating that in an inspiring way?
  • How do you incorporate goals and values around diversity and inclusion? How do you SHOW that treat everybody with dignity and respect?
  • How do the right mindsets, principles, and behaviors influence the actions of leaders in a LMS?
  • How does the LMS affect your workforce?
  • How does it help develop people?
  • What’s your biggest lesson learned about LMS? Something you would have done differently? — evolution and improvement


Jul 19, 202246:04
Dr. Susan Moffatt-Bruce on the Science and Culture of Continuous Improvement

Dr. Susan Moffatt-Bruce on the Science and Culture of Continuous Improvement

Episode page with video, transcript, and more

Welcome to Episode #69 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Joining us today as our guest is Susan Moffatt-Bruce, M.D., Ph.D. M.B.A., FRCSC. She is a thoracic surgeon and she is the Chief Executive Officer at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

She was previously executive director of The Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center University Hospital.

Prior to that, she was the OSU Wexner Medical Center’s first chief quality and patient safety officer. She and her team were celebrated for their success in reducing patient safety events and hospital re-admissions.

Dr. Moffatt-Bruce completed medical school and residency in General Surgery at Dalhousie University. She undertook a PhD in Transplant Immunology at the University of Cambridge, England, and completed her Cardiothoracic Surgery fellowship at Stanford University, California.

She also trained at Intermountain Healthcare, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Moffatt-Bruce has a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification. She earned her Masters of Business Operational Excellence and her Executive Masters of Business Administration at the Fisher College of Business at the Ohio State University.

In today's episode, Susan talks with host Mark Graban, about topics and questions including:

  • How did you get interested in the practice of continuous improvement?
  • “Science of continuous improvement”
  • Engaging surgeons in continuous improvement?
  • From singular improvements to a System level — How would you describe a “Culture of Continuous Improvement” in healthcare?
  • Successes — examples and impact?
  • Reducing patient safety events
  • Reducing hospital re-admissions
  • Challenges and lessons learned - things you would have done differently?
  • MBOE program — any other surgeons in that program? What did you learn about C.I. through that?
  • Aravind Chandrasekaran - Episode 25, academic director
  • How would you suggest others get started in their organization?

Click to visit the main Habitual Excellence podcast page.

Jun 14, 202237:33
Jeff Hunter on Managing Strategy with Focus and Agility

Jeff Hunter on Managing Strategy with Focus and Agility

Episode page: https://valuecapturellc.com/he68

Joining us today as our guest is Jeff Hunter, the President of Jeff Hunter Strategy.

He is the author of Patient-Centered Strategy: A Learning System for Better Care, published by Catalysis in 2018.

Jeff is on the faculty of Catalysis, and the Donald J. Schneider School of Business and Economics at St. Norbert College.

From 1991 until his retirement in 2015 he was the Senior Vice President, Strategy and Marketing for ThedaCare, a healthcare system based in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Jeff received his B.S. in Economics from the University of Detroit and his M.A. in Health Services Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In today's episode, Jeff talks with host Mark Graban, about topics and questions including:

  • As we shift to a new mode of the pandemic — living with Covid — What are you hearing from healthcare leaders about what’s required next?
  • Hearing a lot of “Thank God I had the Lean management system” for the pandemic - discipline, standard work
  • How do you define strategy? Not just a binder…
  • Strategy plan vs. strategy?
  • Differentiation — what differentiates us? Not imitating
  • From budgeting to financial forecasting (beyond budgeting)
  • Strategy plan or hypothesis? - PDSA cycles  — Roadmap or GPS?
  • Strategy formulation and strategy deployment??
  • Lot of choices that have to be made? How to make better choices? Better choices more quickly?
  • How do you define a management system, a strategic management system? What makes it really work?
  • Reinvigorating the management system, but learning from the first time

Click to visit the main Habitual Excellence podcast page.


Jun 01, 202227:10
Denise Cardo, MD of the CDC Talks About Aiming for Perfect Healthcare With Zero Harm

Denise Cardo, MD of the CDC Talks About Aiming for Perfect Healthcare With Zero Harm

Episode page: https://valuecapturellc.com/he67

Welcome to Episode #67 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Joining us today as our guest is Denise Cardo, MD.

Dr. Denise Cardo is the director of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (DHQP), National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Cardo joined CDC in 1993 as a medical epidemiologist in the Hospital Infections Program (later named as Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion). After holding several leadership positions in DHQP, she was selected as division director in 2003.

Her interests include patient safety, occupational health, prevention of healthcare-associated infections, and antimicrobial resistance.

She’s recently the co-author of a NEJM Perspectives piece:

Health Care Safety during the Pandemic and Beyond — Building a System That Ensures Resilience

In today's episode, Dr. Cardo talks with host Mark Graban, about topics and questions including:

  • Why should we aim beyond merely “getting better” and why should we be aiming for Zero Harm?
  • Aim for “perfect healthcare with no harm?
  • What are some practices that are not evenly distributed across the US?
  • Working previously with PRHI - Ken Segel and Paul O’Neill?
  • 70% decrease in harm showed what’s possible
  • Preventing preventable infections or ALL infections??
  • What is the role of CDC in promoting and partnering with healthcare organizations on patient safety? How has that evolved?
  • Policies to incentivize - transparency and accountability
  • Aligning payment to results… most countries aren’t there yet
  • Please tell us how the CDC partners with CMS, AHRQ, and other federal agencies? With private advocacy groups?
  • Focusing on Americans, CDC is a global leader — Collaboration or learning from similar organizations in other countries that are focused on patient safety?
  • Lessons from the Covid pandemic? As you wrote about in the NEJM, why have we seen more patient safety problems recently, including more falls, more infections, more pressure ulcers in hospitals and SNFs?
  • You and your co-authors wrote the recent trends “severely suggests that our health care system lacks a sufficiently resilient safety culture and infrastructure.”
  • Disparities and equity - not just access to care, but “quality care”
  • Moving forward, what evidence would you expect to see if we DID have a “sufficiently resilient safety culture and infrastructure”?

Click to visit the main Habitual Excellence podcast page.

May 17, 202237:04
Meghan Scanlon on Transitions and Reflections, To and Within Healthcare

Meghan Scanlon on Transitions and Reflections, To and Within Healthcare

Episode page: https://valuecapturellc.com/he66

Welcome to Episode #66 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Joining us today as our guest is Meghan Scanlon, the Vice President of Performance Excellence for Community Hospitals at Duke University Health System.

She was previously with Value Capture for almost 7 years as a Principal and Partner in the firm. Prior to that, Meghan and I worked together at Johnson & Johnson as part of a consulting team there that worked with medical labs and hospital systems. She has a BS in Industrial Engineering from Penn State University.

In today's episode, Meghan shares reflections, with host Mark Graban, about various career transitions that she has gone through in her career:

  • Transition from college to the working world
  • Transition into consulting for healthcare organizations
  • Transition to Value Capture
  • Transition to DUHS

Click to visit the main Habitual Excellence podcast page.

May 03, 202245:17
Interview of Theresa Brown, RN on Her New Book "Healing" (Part 2)

Interview of Theresa Brown, RN on Her New Book "Healing" (Part 2)

Episode page and links: https://valuecapturellc.com/he65

Welcome to Episode #65 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Joining us again today is Theresa Brown, PhD, BSN, RN. She is a nurse and writer who lives in Pittsburgh. Her third book — Healing: When a Nurse Becomes a Patient is available now. It explores her diagnosis of and treatment for breast cancer in the context of her own nursing work. Her book, The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients' Lives, was a New York Times Bestseller.

Theresa's BSN is from the University of Pittsburgh, and during what she calls her past life she received a PhD in English from the University of Chicago.

Today's episode is the second part of a two-part series with Theresa that started in episode #64.

In today's episode, Theresa talks about the conviction of RaDonda Vaught -- why is this triggering a lot of fear amongst nurses -- and they talk more about the issues she raises in her books.

Host Mark Graban also asks Theresa questions and discusses topics including:

  • 250,000 Americans a year are dying from medical errors and “no one is doing much to change that” — why is that?
  • What can be done (or needs to be done) to reduce infections and medication errors?
  • You’ve written about mistakes you’ve made… and you wrote about how that wasn’t easy. What happened with the mistake you made (and I hate how that sounds blaming) — the mistake you were involved with regarding the steroid injection?
  • You wrote about being “too proud” to tell your manager that a shift’s assignment was “potentially overwhelming” — Why was that?
  • Thoughts on laws requiring certain nurse to patient ratios?
  • What can be done about the problem of nurses not getting breaks or time to eat lunch
  • Thoughts on 12-hour shifts? Increased risk of error, but fewer handoffs. Can we improve the way handoffs are done?
  • “One of the key factors in burnout, though, is employees feeling like they have little control over their work environment. That’s pretty much status quo in hospitals for nurses and doctors.” — What can be done about that??
  • Epilogue - your main recommendations for our American health system?
Apr 19, 202235:53
Interview of Theresa Brown, RN on Her New Book "Healing" (Part 1)

Interview of Theresa Brown, RN on Her New Book "Healing" (Part 1)

Welcome to Episode #64 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Joining us today as our guest is Theresa Brown, PhD, BSN, RN. She is a nurse and writer who lives in Pittsburgh. Her third book — Healing: When a Nurse Becomes a Patient is available now. It explores her diagnosis of and treatment for breast cancer in the context of her own nursing work. Her book, The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients' Lives, was a New York Times Bestseller.

Theresa's BSN is from the University of Pittsburgh, and during what she calls her past life she received a PhD in English from the University of Chicago.

Today's episode is the first part of a two-part series with Theresa. Come back in two weeks for the next part in Episode #65.

In today's episode, Theresa talks about the need to improve healthcare for the sake of patients and for caregivers. How did Theresa's view of healthcare change when she became a breast cancer patient?

Host Mark Graban also asks Theresa questions and discusses topics including:

  • Is there sometimes an "empathy gap" in healthcare?
  • Making things easy for patients is not currently a goal of healthcare?
  • It sounds like nobody was coordinating (or explaining) your overall cancer situation? Why did you feel "left in the dark?"
  • Did caregivers know you were a nurse? Were you reated differently?
  • “This job would be easier if there weren’t such a narrow divide between being the canary in the coal mine and Chicken Little" -- is there an empathy gap toward nurses and other caregivers?

Click to visit the main Habitual Excellence podcast page.

Apr 12, 202231:27
Paul H. O'Neill Sr.: A Podcast From 2011 on Safety, Leadership, and More

Paul H. O'Neill Sr.: A Podcast From 2011 on Safety, Leadership, and More

Episode page with links and more: https://valuecapturellc.com/he63

Welcome to Episode #63 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Today brings us a special episode, where we have an opportunity to revisit Mark Graban's interview of our original non-executive chairman, Paul H. O'Neill, Sr. This interview originally appeared in the Lean Blog Interviews podcast back in July 2011.

In the discussion, Mr. O'Neill shared his thoughts on patient safety and healthcare, including his time spent as the Chair of the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative and his work with Dr. Richard Shannon in dramatically reducing hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) to their “theoretical limit” of zero harm. Mr. O'Neill talks about the leadership required to have such an impact on safety and quality, drawing on lessons from his years as Alcoa's CEO.

Click to visit the main Habitual Excellence podcast page.

Feb 28, 202229:26
Conversation With Vickie Pisowicz on The Value Capture Way and Her New Role

Conversation With Vickie Pisowicz on The Value Capture Way and Her New Role

Welcome to Episode #62 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Episode page: htps://www.valuecapturellc.com/he62

Joining us today as our guest is Vickie Pisowicz, from Value Capture. She has been a Senior Advisor with the firm and its clients and she also has a new role that we'll talk about today, as Director of the Value Capture Way and Advisory Development.

In today's episode, Vickie talks about the role, what it means to have a "way" and what the "Value Capture Way" entails.

Host Mark Graban also asks Vickie questions and discusses topics including:

  • What is the Value Capture Way? Codifying that?
  • Values and principles are long standing, methods can improve… codifying doesn’t mean fossilizing
  • Advisory - advisors or trusted advisors vs. consultants -- What do those terms mean to you?
  • What will this mean for clients, both current and future?
  • Learning at the fastest possible rate, meeting their needs

Click to visit the main Habitual Excellence podcast page.


Feb 15, 202218:41
An Audio Summary of the Paul O'Neill "Playbook"
Feb 01, 202208:22
Sandra Geiger on Strategy Development & Deployment, Lean Culture

Sandra Geiger on Strategy Development & Deployment, Lean Culture

Chief People Officer & Chief Strategy Deployment Officer at Atrius Health

Episode page: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/he60

Welcome to Episode #60 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Joining us today as our guest is Sandra Geiger. She is the Chief People Officer & Chief Strategy Deployment Officer at Atrius Health in MA. Sandra was previously VP of Performance Excellence at another Massachusetts health system. She’s a physical therapist by background.

In today's episode, Sandra shares her experiences with "strategy development" and the Lean management practice of "strategy deployment" -- before, during and after a pandemic

Host Mark Graban also asks Sandra questions and discusses topics including:

  • How did you get introduced to Lean?
  • How did you become CPO?
  • The aim of "never-ending success"
  • A quick pivot due to Covid - emergency strategy?
  • Connecting the strategy thread to the front line work and improvement and their role
  • People learning what the strategies are - doesn’t always happen?
  • Why Lean at Atrius Health?
  • How you can influence a company culture through Lean -- Continuous Improvement and Respect for People?
  • Beyond culture, where does “technical Lean” fit as well?

Click to visit the main Habitual Excellence podcast page.

Jan 18, 202240:57
Dr. Eric Dickson on Lean Management in a Crisis (The Covid Pandemic)

Dr. Eric Dickson on Lean Management in a Crisis (The Covid Pandemic)

CEO of UMass Memorial Health

Show page: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/he59

Welcome to Episode #59 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Joining us again today is Eric W. Dickson MD, MHCM, FACEP, a returning guest. He is President and Chief Executive Officer at UMass Memorial Health. He was previously a guest in Episode #11, released in July 2020, earlier in the pandemic.

In today's episode, follows up on our earlier discussion about their commitment to "no furloughs and no layoffs" and how that "might have been the best decision we made" during the pandemic, as Eric said.

Host Mark Graban also asks Eric questions and discusses topics including:

  • Going through almost two years of this now, what have you learned about “Lean management in a crisis?”
  • Lessons Learned? — Developing people during a crisis?
  • A culture of Respect for People
  • Staff now are exhausted -- how can we recover?
  • When you talk about principles and values, including safety and respect, how did you handle the vaccine mandate?
  • The role of a leader — Your role as the CEO during this?
Jan 04, 202239:52
Liz Long and Dr. John Anderson: Transforming Primary Care and Lean Management

Liz Long and Dr. John Anderson: Transforming Primary Care and Lean Management

Welcome to Episode #58 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Notes, video, transcript, and more: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/he58

In today's episode, our guests are John B. Anderson, Jr., MD, MPH, the Chief Medical Officer for Duke Primary Care, part of the Duke University Health System, and Elizabeth Long, their Chief Operating Officer.

In the episode, Liz and John discuss an overarching theme  of Transforming Primary Care -- through Lean management practices and continuous improvement, with our host, Mark Graban. Topics and questions include:

  • Liz and John's professional backgrounds
  • Tell us about your organization’s Improvement journey — how they started and why?
  • What is the focus on improvement in primary care?
  • Teamwork and collaboration across sites? More broadly? How to encourage this?
  • Why did your focus shift to a management system?
  • Creating the culture of quality and continuous improvement
  • A3 problem solving - as a method for continuous improvement?
  • Morning huddles, tiered huddles?
  • Benefits & results?
  • Lessons learned?


Dec 14, 202138:14
Equity and Engagement: An Approach to Improving Staff Vaccination Rates [Webinar Recording]

Equity and Engagement: An Approach to Improving Staff Vaccination Rates [Webinar Recording]

Slides, video, and more: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/equity-engagement-legacy-health-improved-staff-vaccination-webinar

Contest -- enter to win through Dec 10: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/paul-birthday-2021

Live Session: December 7 at 1 pm ET  

Presented by a team from Legacy Health:

  • Dominic (Dom) Chan; director of pharmacy
  • Lisa Goren; vice president, Organizational Effectiveness & Talent
  • Dr. Nick Kashey; vice president, Population Health 
  • Dr. Jennifer LeTourneau; clinical vice president, medical education  

After this session, you will be able to:  

  • Describe the need for justice and equity in COVID-19 vaccination campaigns within healthcare  
  • Review tactics for educating and engaging racially diverse healthcare employees about vaccination  
  • Identify key characteristics of stakeholders and content experts that help build vaccine confidence  

---------------  

Learn a powerful approach to increasing hospital workforce COVID vaccinations rates, ahead of the CMS January 4 deadline.  

Join Legacy Health System leaders and physicians to learn how they designed, iterated, and employed a multi-pronged approach, through a health equity lens, to achieve a double-digit increase in COVID vaccination rates. 

Dec 08, 202101:01:07
BONUS: Ron Suskind on Paul O'Neill & "The Price of Loyalty"

BONUS: Ron Suskind on Paul O'Neill & "The Price of Loyalty"

In this bonus episode, you'll hear journalist Ron Suskind (our guest in Episode #57) talk about how he met Paul O'Neill and how the book "The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill" came to be. This episode focuses more on O'Neill's time as Treasury Secretary in the Bush administration.

Dec 07, 202123:55
Ron Suskind on the Timeless Principles of Paul O'Neill

Ron Suskind on the Timeless Principles of Paul O'Neill

Show notes: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/he57

Welcome to Episode #57 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Our guest today is Ron Suskind, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist and investigative reporter.

Ron has been a contributor for The New York Times Magazine and Esquire. Ron was the Wall Street Journal’s senior national affairs reporter from 1993 until his departure in 2000…

Ron is the best-selling author of six books on topics ranging from terrorism to autism — his 2004 book The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill is why we’re talking today. We're also commemorating what would have been Paul's 86th birthday this past Saturday.

In the episode, Ron discusses his decades-long relationship with the late Paul H. O'Neill, Sr., what he learned about his leadership and principles, and how that can (and does) apply to healthcare  — with our host, Mark Graban.

Also check out the bonus episode, where Ron shares more of the story about meeting O'Neill and writing the book.

Topics and questions include:

  • In a Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross, you said Paul was “the king of facts” - tell us what you meant by that and how you learned that.
  • Was it difficult for O'Neill to shift from being a CEO to being part of President Bush's cabinet?
  • How much did you talk about healthcare with him? "Endlessly."
  • Why was O'Neill a "skunk at a garden party"?
  • O'Neill influenced many healthcare CEOs (as we've interviewed in this series) -- why aren't more leaders on board with his approach?
  • During the virtual memorial service, you stated that Paul’s mark would endure… why is that and what qualities?
Dec 07, 202144:28
Preview: Equity and Engagement: An Approach to Improving Staff Vaccination Rates

Preview: Equity and Engagement: An Approach to Improving Staff Vaccination Rates

Register for the webinar: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/equity-engagement-legacy-health-improved-staff-vaccination-webinar

This will be held live on Tuesday, December 7 at 1 pm ET. It will be recorded for on-demand viewing as well. 

We are joined here by two of the four presenters / panelists from Legacy Health:

  • Dominic (Dom) Chan; director of pharmacy
  • Lisa Goren; vice president, Organizational Effectiveness & Talent

The other two panelists will be:

  • Dr. Nick Kashey; vice president, Population Health
  • Dr. Jennifer LeTourneau; clinical vice president, medical education


Dec 01, 202108:40
Donna Prosser and the Patient Safety Movement Foundation: Working Toward Zero Harm

Donna Prosser and the Patient Safety Movement Foundation: Working Toward Zero Harm

Show notes and links: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/he56

In today's episode, our guest is Dr. Donna Prosser, the Chief Clinical Officer for the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, an organization that Value Capture is proud to partner with, given our shared interests in improving healthcare.

Donna has been in the healthcare industry for more than 30 years and is currently the Chief Clinical Officer at the Patient Safety Movement Foundation. She spent the first fifteen years of her career at the bedside and transitioned into administration after a personal experience helped her to understand just how fragmented and unsafe patient care can be. This experience ignited a passion to improve healthcare quality and safety in her that continues to burn to this day.

She previously worked as a healthcare consultant, helping organizations across the United States and previously had leadership roles and/or clinical roles at Martin Health System, Carteret Health Care, and the Washington Hospital Center.

Dr. Prosser received a Doctorate in Nursing Practice at the University of Central Florida, a Master of Science in Nursing at Duke University, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at George Mason University.

In the episode, Donna discusses efforts to improve patient safety and healthcare quality — and her personal motivations for doing so — with our host, Mark Graban. topics and questions include:

  • What inspired you to get so involved in patient safety? A personal experience...
  • How can we help advocates and patients be partners and not adversarial?
  • Two stories — helped STOP the errors
  • Fixing errors vs. focusing on culture, systems, etc.
  • Fragmented care, system issues -- or systemless?
  • Covid era - lack of visitation, impact on errors??
  • What’s the scale of the problem? It’s been 20+ years since To Err is Human… is it getting better?? Are we seeing results?
  • Goal of Zero Harm by 2030? How do we get there?
  • Making a commitment to zero harm
  • PATIENT AIDER app
  • PSMF resources that can help?
  • Coaching support for organizations that commit to zero harm
  • Creating a foundation for safe and reliable care
  • Previous episode with Dr. David Mayer, former CEO of the Foundation
Nov 30, 202137:15
Lisa Beckwith on the Relationship Between the Shingo Principles "Respect Every Individual" and "Focus on Process"

Lisa Beckwith on the Relationship Between the Shingo Principles "Respect Every Individual" and "Focus on Process"

Show notes: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/he55

Welcome to Episode #55 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

In today's episode, our guest is Lisa Beckwith, a Senior Advisor with Value Capture. In this episode, Lisa explains the two Shingo Guiding Principles, "Respect Every Individual" and "Focus on Process," and the relationship between them.

You can watch a video or listen to the podcast. A full transcript also follows.

  • The Power of Principles
  • Respect Every Individual - Why is it Important for Excellence?
  • An Example of a Leader Modeling Respectful Behaviors
  • Ignoring the Principles
  • What Can Leaders Do?
  • How “Focus on Process” Drives Respect into the Organization
  • Focus on Process Brings Clearer Vision and Understanding
  • Grasp the Current Condition
  • Engaging and Improving Via the Management System
Nov 16, 202122:37
Applying Lessons from Autoliv (Manufacturing) to Intermountain Healthcare: Scott Saxton

Applying Lessons from Autoliv (Manufacturing) to Intermountain Healthcare: Scott Saxton

Welcome to Episode #54 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Show notes, video, and more: : https://www.valuecapturellc.com/he54

In today's episode, our guest is Scott Saxton, Assistant Vce President of Continuous Improvement at Intermountain Healthcare. Scott started his career in manufacturing, at an outstanding company and Lean exemplar, Autoliv — an airbag supplier to many companies.

Previous guests who talked about Intermountain Healthcare were Dr. Matt Pollard and Timothy Pehrson, if you want to listen to those episodes.

In the episode, Scott discusses the lessons, mindsets, and practices that are transferrable from manufacturing into healthcare with our host, Mark Graban. Other topics and questions include:

  • How would you summarize what you learned working at Autoliv for 20 years — things you learned that ended up being relevant in healthcare?
  • “Totally changed the way I manage”
  • “Never told us what to do” — taught principles, trust, culture
  • “Allowed me to experiment”
  • Autoliv CEO wanted him to help Intermountain reduce costs, as a key supplier to them
  • “If you don’t have support at the top… this is hard to do
  • Small continuous improvement ideas from every person -- Idea Systems
  • What was it like for you, transitioning to healthcare?
  • Performance Boards - what are those and how are they used?
  • "Are we winning today?" How do we know?
  • Tell me about Daily Tiered Escalation Huddles…
  • What is the Intermountain Operating Model?
  • 7 key systems: strategy (what does winning look like?), make it visual, engage the team, following up as leaders…
  • When people ask you, “how do we get the senior leaders on board?” - your reply is what?
Nov 02, 202141:37
Bill Boyd on His New Role as Director of Innovation, Learning and Networks

Bill Boyd on His New Role as Director of Innovation, Learning and Networks

Show notes: https://valuecapturellc.com/he53

Welcome to Episode #53 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

In today's episode, our guest is Bill Boyd, a Senior Advisor with Value Capture. He was previously our guest in Episode 32 of the podcast, talking about “Improving in an Experimental Way; A3, PDSA, Kata, and More."

Bill also has a new role at Value Capture as the Director of Innovation, Learning and Networks.

In the episode, Bill discusses that role and the following with our host, Mark Graban:

  • Tell us about that role — your duties and how it came to be?
  • A free 15-minute virtual learning course, “3 systems: A key to transformation
  • Episode 18 with Didier Rabino on the three systems
  • Your initial hypothesis for the role and what are you learning so far?
  • What is "world class" and how do we find data on who the world class organizations are, related to safety?
  • How will this work and your focus benefit our clients?
Oct 19, 202118:27
Applications of Lean Leadership Methods in Home-Based Care [Webinar]

Applications of Lean Leadership Methods in Home-Based Care [Webinar]

Audio from a webinar that was presented on October 12, 2021

Presented by Cooper Linton
Associate Vice President, Duke HomeCare & Hospice

Learning Objectives

In this webinar, you will learn practical lessons that can be applied to any setting, not just home care:

  • The fundamentals that guided the Lean journey at Duke HomeCare & Hospice
  • Why committing to zero harm is such an important fundamental belief
  • Why it's crucial for the organization to capture good catches, close calls, and near misses
  • How safety huddles and tiered huddles provide a structured format
  • Why "A3 thinking" must become the organizational culture
  • Challenges to implementing Lean in home-based care
Cooper Linton

Associate Vice President, Duke HomeCare & Hospice

Cooper Linton has worked in the healthcare industry for over 20 years with a passionate focus on home and community-based care. His professional background includes strategic planning, healthcare operations, certificate of need, marketing, business development, and healthcare construction. He currently serves as the associate vice president for Duke HomeCare, Duke Hospice, and Duke Home Infusion. Cooper also co-hosts a podcast, Edge of Aging, around healthcare and aging issues. He has a passion around healthcare access for the medically underserved as well as a desire to enhance access to services for caregivers.

Mr. Linton holds a Masters in Healthcare Administration and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he also completed his Graduate Certificate in Gerontology. Cooper believes that his greatest “real world” education came through his role as a caregiver while he shared the care-journey of his parents.  When not working, Cooper is happily busy as a husband, father, and an avid outdoorsman.

Oct 12, 202101:01:19
Dr. Patrick Conway, CEO of Care Solutions at Optum

Dr. Patrick Conway, CEO of Care Solutions at Optum

Show notes: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/he52

Welcome to Episode #52 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

In today's episode, our guest is Patrick Conway, M.D. who became CEO of Care Solutions at Optum in June 2020. Prior to that, Patrick served as a senior executive in residence at United Health Group and Optum. From 2017-2019, he was President and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.

Previously, Conway served as Deputy Administrator for Innovation and Quality at the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In this role he also held the position of Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI).

Conway joined CMS in 2011 as the agency’s Chief Medical Officer and served as Principal Deputy Administrator and Acting Administrator, the most senior non-political leader at CMS.

In the episode, Patrick discusses the following with host Mark Graban:

  • How and where did you first get introduced to Lean concepts and Lean management?
  • What did Lean mean to you, specifically, as a pediatric physician?
  • When you were Chief Medical Officer for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, you were a speaker at the Catalysis Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit, what messages were you sharing?
  • What was the application of Lean within CMS?
  • What's the role of role of payment systems and incentives as a driver of improvement in safety, quality, and cost?
  • What was the role of CMS, HHS, and the federal government in encouraging improvements to patient safety & quality? In encouraging Lean or related methods?
  • After CMS you went to BCBS of NC, tell me more about the work there.
  • In your role as CEO of Care Solutions at Optum at UnitedHealth Group, what does Lean mean to you? What is your role in this?
  • Tell us about going to the front line with home health care…
  • Bringing Covid vaccination and testing to patients?
  • Final reflection question - what do you wish others would learn sooner than later about leadership / improvement?


Oct 05, 202133:59
Dr. Fred Pinto on Lean Leadership, Improving Cancer Care in Brazil

Dr. Fred Pinto on Lean Leadership, Improving Cancer Care in Brazil

Oncologist, CEO of Grupo IOV

Show notes: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/HE51

In today's episode, we're joined by Carlos Frederico (“Fred”) Pinto, MD, MA. He's an oncologist and he's the CEO of Groupo, IOV, an oncology group of caregivers in Brazil. I've seen him speak at conferences in the U.S. and Brazil, and he always has something insightful to share — including today!

In the episode, Fred discusses the following:

  • His whitepaper that we mention
  • Tell us about Grupo IOV and your role?
  • How did you first get introduced to Lean?
  • First small experiments? “Big impact”
  • Don’t wait for the CEO? Are they supportive, neutral or negative?
  • Your role in creating the culture?
  • The role of the “chief architect” for Lean?
  • Tiered huddles participation – what gets escalated?
  • Key behaviors? “Be patient,” make sure you’ve established a clear vision
  • Improving cancer treatment?
  • How much improvement comes from projects or daily management?
  • What does Lean Culture mean to you? Respect for people?
  • The importance of error proofing
  • COVID challenges?
Sep 21, 202139:15
Leadership for Safety, Problem Solving, and Continuous Improvement at Duke HomeCare and Hospice

Leadership for Safety, Problem Solving, and Continuous Improvement at Duke HomeCare and Hospice

Welcome to Episode #50 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Show notes: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/he50

In today's episode, we're joined by two guests, two leaders from Duke HomeCare and Hospice, part of Duke Health. They are Cooper Linton, Associate Vice President, and Benita Pope, Director of Hospice Services. We also have a special guest host, Mike Radtke, a Senior Advisor with Value Capture. Mike has worked with Cooper and Benita and has supported them in their continued development of the Duke Quality System, incorporating Lean management and improvement methods.

You can download a fantastic whitepaper that talks more about the work that Cooper and Benita have led at DHCH.

In the episode, Mike, Benita, and Cooper discuss the following:

  • Describe how your approach to addressing safety has changed over the last 2 years?
  • You started your focus on zero harm in the inpatient hospice unit. What were some of your key insights from that early experience?
  • As you spread to the home environment, how did you adapt your practices to make it work in that unique care setting?
  • What have you changed with how you lead as you've been on this journey?
  • How have staff responded to these changes?  How do you really know it works for them?
  • How does this leadership system help develop others on a daily basis, so you don't have to solve all the problems yourselves?
  • What value have you experienced in having a coach supporting your change efforts?
  • What challenges have presented themselves in focusing on zero harm in the home environment and how are you addressing those challenges?
Sep 07, 202139:54
Ken Segel on the Shingo Principle of "Create Value for the Customer"

Ken Segel on the Shingo Principle of "Create Value for the Customer"

CEO of Value Capture

Show notes: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/he49

Welcome to Episode #49 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Today's episode is another video essay from Ken Segel, the CEO of Value Capture. In his last video, Ken talked about the importance of the “Shingo Principles,” starting with “Create Constancy of Purpose.” This time, Ken talks about the principle of “Create Customer Value.”

“Ultimately, value must be defined through the lens of what a customer wants and is willing to pay for. Organizations that fail to deliver both effectively and efficiently on this most fundamental outcome cannot be sustained long term.”

Value Capture is very honored to be a Licensed Affiliate of the Shingo Institute. As the only affiliate focused on healthcare, Value Capture has bolstered its proven, principles-based framework to help healthcare leaders guide their organizations toward operational excellence.

Aug 24, 202114:38
Samuel Ashby, Legacy Health, on Fostering a Resilient Culture in Healthcare

Samuel Ashby, Legacy Health, on Fostering a Resilient Culture in Healthcare

Director of performance excellence at Legacy Health

Show notes and links: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/he48

Our guest today is Samuel Ashby, director of performance excellence at Legacy Health, an organization that Value Capture is pleased to work with and support.

Samuel is a certified Toyota Production System leader with twenty five years of Lean, Six Sigma, and Change Management experience with various Fortune 500 companies. He is a proven thought leader that has delivered significant Speed, Cost, Quality and People Development improvements to the business. He has worked for Legacy Health for over five years now.

In today's episode, host Mark Graban asks him about these questions and topics:

  • You recently gave a talk on “Fostering a Resilient Culture” at the recent Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit from Catalysis, how do you define resiliency?
  • How did you maintain resiliency as a child?
  • Resiliency in the face of systemic racism?
  • The role of empathy and openness as being an effective ally?
  • What does it mean to be an anti-racist organization? Goals and measures?
  • Resiliency during the pandemic for you and your colleagues?
  • How do Lean principles and methods help, such as A3 thinking and respect for people?
  • Goal: safest place to receive and deliver care?
  • ZERO harm for physical, psychological, and professional safety
  • Tell us about partnering with Value Capture on the Legacy Operating System
  • Early experiences at Toyota?? Reflections and advice for others?
  • Transferrable concepts, but not absolute
  • The Rules in Use article by Steve Spear
Aug 10, 202136:25
Timothy Pehrson, President and CEO of INTEGRIS Health on Leading the Improvement Charge

Timothy Pehrson, President and CEO of INTEGRIS Health on Leading the Improvement Charge

President and Chief Executive Officer of INTEGRIS Health

Show notes: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/HE47

Welcome to Episode #47 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Our guest is Timothy Pehrson the President and Chief Executive Officer of INTEGRIS Health, based in Oklahoma. He has been in that role, and at INTEGRIS, since 2018. He came to INTEGRIS from Intermountain Healthcare in Utah, where he had most recently served in a dual role as regional vice president/CEO for the North Region and vice president of continuous improvement for Intermountain Healthcare.

In today's episode, host Mark Graban asks him about these questions and topics:

  • Tell us a bit about your professional background… and how did you first get introduced to continuous improvement? What role did the manufacturer Autoliv play?
  • Why was the safety-first culture and focus that you saw there transferrable?
  • Why he couldn’t see safety winning/losing in real time why how they started to lower OSHA recordables
  • Daily tiered escalation huddles – what things need to get escalated to the CEO? – injuries and serious safety events
  • Focusing on safety, quality, experience, affordability, engaged caregivers, access
  • How do you find the balance between escalation and empowerment??
  • How is Daily Improvement as part of their operating model? How do you measure success? Participation and impact?
  • What is the Integris Health Way?
  • Why can’t you delegate this to the VP of CI
  • What did you learn from your dual roles at Intermountain Healthcare, as a regional CEO and a system-wide CI leader?
  • Supporting this vs leading the charge
Jul 27, 202139:36
Ken Segel on the Shingo Principle of "Create Constancy of Purpose"

Ken Segel on the Shingo Principle of "Create Constancy of Purpose"

Show notes and links: http://valuecapturellc.com/he46

Welcome to Episode #46 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Today's episode is a video essay from Ken Segel, the CEO of Value Capture. Ken talks about the importance of the "Shingo Principles," starting with creating "constancy of purpose." What is a principle? Why are they timeless and universal? Ken talks about that and more in the audio and video versions of this episode.

"Create Constancy of Purpose is defined as an unwavering understanding of why the organization exists, where it is going, and how it will get there."

Value Capture is very honored to be a Licensed Affiliate of the Shingo Institute. As the only affiliate focused on healthcare, Value Capture has bolstered its proven, principles-based framework to help healthcare leaders guide their organizations toward operational excellence.

Here is Ken's HBR article that he mentioned in the episode: Health Care Workers Protect Us. It’s Time to Protect Them.

Jul 13, 202115:38
Revisiting an Interview of Paul O'Neill, Sr. From 2011

Revisiting an Interview of Paul O'Neill, Sr. From 2011

Show notes: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/HE45

Free eBook: "A Playbook for Habitual Excellence": http://valuecapturellc.com/playbook

Welcome to Episode #45 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Today’s episode is a bit different than our usual interviews and conversations. Today, we are republishing an interview that Mark Graban did in 2011 with the late Paul O’Neill Sr., the former non-executive chair for our firm. he was, of course, so much more than that, (CEO of Alcoa, United States Treasury Secretary, and more), as you’ll hear in this interview that originally appeared as Episode 124 of his Lean Blog Interviews podcast.

In summary, Mr. O'Neill talked about:

  • Leadership mindsets required for dramatic workplace safety and patient safety improvement, including a near 100% reduction in hospital-acquired infections at Pittsburgh's Allegheny General Hospital
  • Why the United States has accomplished “practically nothing” nationally since the famed 1999 Institute of Medicine report “To Err Is Human”
  • Why society's most lacking skill is “leadership”
  • Alternative ways of compensating patients who are harmed by the healthcare system while ensuring real improvements are made by learning from each problem
  • Why leaders in Washington D.C., at the time, should have shifted from “financial engineering” to visiting ThedaCare to learn about “the real way” we should improve health care.

You can also find a full transcript below on this page.

Please check out our free eBooks about the work and wisdom of Mr. O'Neill.

Jun 29, 202129:25
Roxanna Gapstur, as CEO, Leading the Creation of a Lean Management System

Roxanna Gapstur, as CEO, Leading the Creation of a Lean Management System

President and CEO of WellSpan Health

Show notes and links: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/he44

Welcome to Episode #44 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Our guest is Roxanna Gapstur, PhD, RN, the President and Chief Executive Officer of WellSpan Health, in Pennsylvania. She has been in that role since January 2019.

Dr. Gapstur has extensive experience in strategic planning, business development and operational leadership in both ambulatory and hospital settings. She has served in multiple executive roles including chief operating officer, chief nursing officer and as a senior executive accountable for population health.

Dr. Gapstur obtained her bachelor’s degree from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minn., and her master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Minnesota.

In today's episode, host Mark Graban asks her about these questions and topics:

  • You’re leading the creation and adoption of a comprehensive lean management system — what does that mean and what do you aim to achieve?
    “Find a better way”
    4Cs: Concern, Cause, Countermeasure, and Check
    Aiming for cultural transformation
    Focusing on safety – patient/employee – zero harm
  • As part of that management system, what is Real Time Problem Solving and what are your keystone goals?
  • How will you follow through on the promise of having 20,000 problem solvers?
    An example of using the “help chain”
  • How do you engage with your leaders and teams?
    Tiered huddles
    What’s an example of something you’ve learned through those “Working as One” calls?
  • Tell us about the importance of you, as CEO, getting alignment, focusing on culture, and leading the transformation…
Jun 08, 202134:26
Habitual Excellence Starts with Safety: Before, During, and After a Crisis [Webinar Recording]

Habitual Excellence Starts with Safety: Before, During, and After a Crisis [Webinar Recording]

View the video recording

Please listen to Ken Segel, Value Capture CEO, and Michael Bundy, Chief Executive Officer of Prisma Health Baptist Hospital and Prisma Health Baptist Parkridge Hospital, as they explore how leading with the goal of perfect safety for all propelled Prisma Health Baptist Parkridge Hospital to achieve status as a Leapfrog Top General Hospital in just two years. Also joining the discussion is Missy Danforth, Vice President of Health Care Ratings for The Leapfrog Group. She will provide an overview of the Leapfrog Hospital Survey and the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade.

Long an advocate of Paul O'Neill's standard of perfect safety, Bundy incorporated the following premises as the foundation for leading his hospitals toward habitual excellence, aligned with Prisma Health's impressive journey to transform the healthcare experience for our patients and their families:

  • Safety, for your teams as well as your patients, is the best leading indicator for your business; and,
  • Safety has to be a PRECONDITION to all other work, not a “priority” to trade-off for other priorities, including, and perhaps especially, in crisis.

While the external recognition of being named a Top General Hospital is important and serves to validate the work so far, the Prisma Health vision for Bundy's hospitals and others is to go far deeper and broader – they will become a national model of excellence in patient care, workforce performance and engagement, and community service.

In this 60-minute webinar, you will learn:

  • How and why perfect safety/zero harm for all is a powerful aligning force to energize leaders and staff toward habitual excellence;
  • How the changes in daily work, structures, and mindset lead to a culture of learning, continual aspiration, and innovation; and,
  • How the focus and work toward perfect safety pre-COVID helped guide thinking and problem solving during COVID, and guide learning for post-COVID

This webinar took place on May 27, 2021. Mark Graban, Value Capture Senior Advisor, served as the host and Ken Segel served as the moderator. Missy Danforth briefly discussed the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, which focuses on quality and patient safety measures that are of utmost importance to purchasers and patients, and the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, which is a composite made up of 27 publicly reported measures of patient safety, and answer related questions.

May 27, 202101:00:51
Mike Bundy Webinar Preview: Habitual Excellence Starts with Safety — Before, During, and After a Crisis

Mike Bundy Webinar Preview: Habitual Excellence Starts with Safety — Before, During, and After a Crisis

CEO of Prisma Health Baptist Hospital and Prisma Health Baptist Parkridge Hospital

Mike Bundy gives a preview of the webinar he'll be part of on May 27th. Register here (or view the recording after 5/27).

About the webinar:

Please join Ken Segel, Value Capture CEO, and Michael Bundy, Chief Executive Officer of Prisma Health Baptist Hospital and Prisma Health Baptist Parkridge Hospital, as they explore how leading with the goal of perfect safety for all propelled Prisma Health Baptist Parkridge Hospital to achieve status as a Leapfrog Top General Hospital in just two years. Also joining the discussion is Missy Danforth, Vice President of Health Care Ratings for The Leapfrog Group. She will provide an overview of the Leapfrog Hospital Survey and the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade.

Long an advocate of Paul O'Neill's standard of perfect safety, Bundy incorporated the following premises as the foundation for leading his hospitals toward habitual excellence, aligned with Prisma Health's impressive journey to transform the healthcare experience for our patients and their families:

  • Safety, for your teams as well as your patients, is the best leading indicator for your business; and,
  • Safety has to be a PRECONDITION to all other work, not a “priority” to trade-off for other priorities, including, and perhaps especially, in crisis.

While the external recognition of being named a Top General Hospital is important and serves to validate the work so far, the Prisma Health vision for Bundy's hospitals and others is to go far deeper and broader – they will become a national model of excellence in patient care, workforce performance and engagement, and community service.

In this 60-minute webinar, you will learn:

  • How and why perfect safety/zero harm for all is a powerful aligning force to energize leaders and staff toward habitual excellence;
  • How the changes in daily work, structures, and mindset lead to a culture of learning, continual aspiration, and innovation; and,
  • How the focus and work toward perfect safety pre-COVID helped guide thinking and problem solving during COVID, and guide learning for post-COVID

Value Capture is honored to partner with The Leapfrog Group to share the insights and experiences of Mike Bundy representing Prisma Health in this vital work toward sustainable excellence.

May 21, 202108:51
Ken Segel on Command Centers and an Upcoming Webinar We’re Hosting

Ken Segel on Command Centers and an Upcoming Webinar We’re Hosting

CEO of Value Capture

Links and notes: https://www.valuecapturellc.com/he42

Welcome to Episode #42 of Habitual Excellence, presented by Value Capture.

Our guest is Ken Segel, CEO of Value Capture. In this episode, Ken is interviewed by Mark Graban and they talk about:

Ken's recent blog post: Hospital Command Centers: Keep What’s Best and Improve the Rest

An upcoming webinar: Habitual Excellence Starts with Safety — Before, During, and After a Crisis

In the webinar, Ken will be moderating a conversation with Michael Bundy, Chief Executive Officer of Prisma Health Baptist Hospital and Prisma Health Baptist Parkridge Hospital, and Missy Danforth, Vice President of Health Care Ratings for The Leapfrog Group. If you miss the live webinar on May 27th, you'll be able to get the recording via our YouTube channel.

May 18, 202131:07