Lean Design in Healthcare

by Adam Ward

This book gives the reader an inside look at creating a new healthcare service using practical examples and scenarios one would face if doing it themselves. This book chronicles the journey of a fictitious healthcare delivery organization using the Simpler Design System principles based on Lean methodologies. While the characters and actual story is fictitious, it is based on the journey many healthcare systems and clients have taken, the issues they have faced, and the successes and failures they’ve had. Tools and approaches used are based on the actual work of Simpler. The story format engages readers and is intended to motivate and inspire executive teams to use the tenets of the book as a guide to launch their own successful implementation of an idea-to-launch methodology. Tools include those gleaned from actual application of Lean Product Development, Agile, Design for Six Sigma, and Design Thinking Principles. Through engaging storytelling and practical theory, this book is written from the perspective of a physician leader that agrees to be the executive sponsor for a service redesign. As the story progresses, the sponsor becomes fascinated with the process and becomes the first VP of Innovation within his organization.

164 pages, Hardcover

Published August 16, 2018

About the author

Adam Ward is an Innovation Leader with over 25 years of strategy and product development experience. He began his career as a design engineer at Honda R&D before becoming the Lean Product Development Strategy Leader at GE Healthcare. Now at Simpler, an IBM Health Company, Adam coaches C-Suite healthcare teams worldwide on client delivery redesign with a focus on new product development, services enhancement and organizational transformation. He is one of the early adopters of innovation techniques in healthcare and has been at the ground level for major projects, including GE’s $8B Diagnostic Imaging Division. He is the creator of GE’s Disruptive Cost Workout methodology, which continues to be their business standard.

As an innovation consultant with Simpler, Adam has guided clients like Atrius Health, Northwestern Mutual, Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force to leverage lean product development to increase the ability to create new products, services and patient-care models. His project at Lockheed Martin won their prestigious Team of the Year Improvement Award and Adam has won the President’s Award from Honda, GE and Simpler for his innovation methods.

Adam has a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland and an MBA from Ohio State University, in addition to attending GE’s Crotonville leadership courses and its Management Development Course. Adam now guest lectures at Ohio State for both graduate and undergraduate programs on innovation, leadership, customer understanding, and change management. An accomplished triathlete, Adam has competed twice in the US National Championship and twice in the Ironman 70.3 World Championship.

He is a sought-after speaker and adviser on the topic of innovation.