About LEAN Academy

In 2005, Denver Health partnered with Simpler Healthcare™ to embrace the Toyota Production System's LEAN principles. The goal was to identify waste and improve efficiency. Denver's safety net hospital, with 525-licensed beds, was ready to undergo a cultural change that would allow them to remain financially stable and continue providing high quality patient care in the presence of uncompensated care and declining reimbursements. Since then, Denver Health has experienced unparalleled success integrating the LEAN philosophy into their culture.

• Since 2006, LEAN at Denver Health has generated $135M in financial benefit (as of early 2012) with no staff layoffs. Despite adding four additional buildings to the campus, budgets have not increased.
• Denver Health ranks #1 in the country among academic medical centers in patient survival.
• Denver Health is the first healthcare organization in the world to be awarded The Shingo Bronze Medallion for Operational Excellence.
• Denver Health has completed more than 300 LEAN management improvements that have involved 1,300 employees.

Now, having mastered the philosophy, principles and tools of LEAN, Denver Health is set to assist other organizations in implementing this system. There is great potential for hospitals and healthcare systems across the nation to improve patient care and reduce inefficiency by utilizing this system for operational excellence. Together we can change the healthcare industry, making it safer and more efficient for patients.

Why Denver Health Chose LEAN

Originally developed for the manufacturing industry, LEAN has great potential in the healthcare setting. Denver Health selected the LEAN methodology for the following reasons:

• Total package: a philosophy, set of principles & a tool set
• The philosophy fits healthcare
• The tool set is intuitive
• It generates meaningful employee engagement
• Rapid results
• Power to change culture

Unique Multi-Prong Approach to LEAN

Among only a few hospitals in the nation to implement the LEAN principles, Denver Health utilizes a unique two-pronged approach:

1. Rapid Improvement Events (RIEs), that are carried out in 18 selected areas of the system called Value Streams. Each Value Stream is required to conduct 8 RIEs each year and each of these RIE results and metrics are reported directly to executive staff.
2. Denver Health Black Belt Projects: Each Black Belt submits a standardized report electronically, documenting the Lean tools they used, the waste they identified and eliminated, and the quantifiable results of their project.

Over the years, Denver Health has adopted a LEAN culture that exposes all employees to the basic principles of LEAN, and trains 50 new Black Belts annually. Currently, there are more than 200 Black Belts throughout Denver Health.