Altarum Institute Expert on Use of "Lean" Management in Health Care Authors New Book.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Altarum Institute's lean six sigma team leader, Steven Hoeft, has just published a new book on lean principles and the many lessons he has learned from its application during his career. Hoeft's book, Stories From My Sensei: Two Decades of Lessons Learned Implementing Toyota-Style Systems, is published by Productivity Press.

Hoeft is a senior lean six sigma coach at Altarum and works with clients to apply his lean experience in the field of health care and hospital administration. "Lean" is a process improvement philosophy employed to improve efficiency and reduce waste. Altarum has been a pioneer in the application of lean in the health care field, adding a great deal to the body of knowledge of lean hospital design, lean laboratory design and process, operating room optimization, and flow and access improvements in support processes. Hoeft and his team at Altarum have successfully employed lean techniques with a wide variety of health care clients, including Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Scott & White, University of Michigan Healthcare System, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Yale New Haven Health, the Air Force Surgeon General, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Defense.

In his book, Hoeft relates his experience gained from studying under Toyota Production System (TPS) master teachers. Hoeft's stories of continuous improvement and lean implementation are organized around the Toyota House framework. The book covers the historical and foundational aspects of TPS, and his stories illustrate a wealth of essential topics encompassing the timeless, unchanging principles of just-in-time, built in quality, and respect for people.

Hoeft is a Toyota-trained Toyota production system coach and has helped organizations win over a dozen Shingo prizes during his career. Content from the book can be found on the Productivity Press Web site. To learn more about Altarum Institute's use of lean six sigma techniques in health care, visit the Altarum Web site.

Altarum Institute (www.altarum.org) integrates objective research and client-centered consulting skills to deliver comprehensive, systems-based solutions that improve health and health care. Altarum employs more than 350 individuals and is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich. with additional offices in the Washington, D.C. area; Atlanta, Ga.; Portland, Maine; and San Antonio, Texas.