Healthcare Kaizen
The practical guide • Mark Graban & Joseph E. Swartz
Your team sees the problems.
Help them improve the work.
Healthcare Kaizen shows how to turn everyday frustrations into small, staff-driven improvements—and build the leadership habits that help them last.
Preview both books before you choose. Free PDF chapters; email registration required.
Engaging Front-Line Staff in Sustainable Continuous Improvements
A reference you can use with your team
Start with one problem. Build a habit of improvement.
Make it practical
See more than 200 full-color photographs and illustrations, including real improvements from healthcare organizations.
Make it participative
Learn how nurses, housekeepers, physicians, managers, and other staff can contribute to better care and better work.
Make it sustainable
Connect daily Kaizen with coaching, leadership behaviors, and an organization-wide management system.
Is this the right book for you?
Choose Healthcare Kaizen if you facilitate improvement, lead a department, coach teams, or want a detailed reference for putting daily Kaizen into practice. It is especially useful when improvement events have helped, but improvement still feels like something separate from daily work.
For a shorter leadership overview, start with The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. The books share a foundation and some content, so you can choose the depth that fits your role.
Grounded in real healthcare improvement
Mark Graban and Joseph E. Swartz bring together examples from hospitals around the world, including Franciscan St. Francis Health, where Joe helped lead Kaizen. The book received the Shingo Professional Publication and Research Award and includes introductory material by Masaaki Imai and Norman Bodek.
Published in 2012, these examples document the organizations and results of that period. The focus remains practical: how people notice problems, test ideas, learn, and improve together.
Try a chapter before you buy.
See how the authors explain Kaizen and decide whether the approach fits your team.
Preview both books before you choose. Free PDF chapters; email registration required.