Despite expensive increases in the cost of U.S. healthcare, Americans too often get mediocre results – or worse. National studies show that 15 million incidents of medical harm – drug errors, wrong-side surgeries, infections – occur in the United States annually. It is time to recognize that reducing errors and reducing cost at the same time requires a revolutionary new kind of healthcare delivery – lean healthcare, according to the authors. Toussaint, CEO emeritus of ThedaCare, a four-hospital healthcare system in Wisconsin, and Roger Gerard, its chief learning officer at the time of authorship, candidly describe ThedaCare’s lean healthcare journey, an effort that slashed errors, improved patient outcomes, raised staff morale, and saved millions in cost without layoffs. Part case study, part manifesto, this groundbreaking book uses plain language and real-life examples to explain lean healthcare – not as a theory, but as a working system based on proven lean management principles adapted from industry and applicable by any healthcare provider. This book won a Shingo Award in 2012 in the Shingo Healthcare category. Testimonials: “This book shows that lean thinking and true patient-centeredness are not  just compatible; they are, at heart, the very same thing.” Donald Berwick, MD, co-founder and former CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement “Worried that reaching the top of national rankings is unattainable by ordinary mortals? Read this book in one day…Your journey will have begun.” Arnold Milstein, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Clinical Excellence Research Center at Stanford University “Everyone interested in medical care should read this book. The ideas practiced at ThedaCare should be adopted across the country. If they are…we will reduce national medical care spending…while improving outcomes.” Paul H. O’Neill, former US Treasury Secretary and former CEO of Alcoa. “The US is twisted in knots debating healthcare payment reform…if this organization’s approach and results were replicated nationally, we would be having healthcare surplus, not crisis.” Steven J. Spear, author of The High-Velocity Edge and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. “This book is a practical tool for any healthcare leader to create a better patient value in healthcare, and begin the real process of healthcare reform.” Michael Porter, Professor at Harvard Business School and author of Redefining Health Care.