Spath PL, Nash DB
Chicago, Illinois: American Hospital Association; 2004

A guide to involving patients in error prevention and the role of hospital leadership.

Berry LL, Parker D, Coile RC Jr, Hamilton DK, O'Neill DD, Sadler BL. The business case for better buildings. Frontiers of Health Services Management. 2004 Fall;21(1):3-24.

A study of how innovative health facility designs have a positive impact on patients' health outcomes and satisfaction.

Hendrich A, Fay J, Sorrells A. Effects of acuity-adaptable rooms on flow of patients and delivery of care. American Journal of Critical Care. 2004 Jan;13(1):35-45.

Methodist Hospital, Clarian Health Partners, Inc., in Indianapolis, Indiana, tested whether the use of acuity-adaptable rooms would help improve the flow of patients, reduce medical errors, and increase staff satisfaction. Results included in significant improvements in quality and operational costs.

Lean Enterprise Institute; 2004.

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Shadyside is a leading member of IHI's effort to redesign patient care in hospital medical and surgical units. The project, known as TCAB (Transforming Care at the Bedside), draws inspiration and many of its principles from Lean production concepts, made famous by Toyota. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Shadyside is discovering how lean practices can improve patient care.

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(c) Lean Enterprise Institute (Brookline, MA, www.lean.org 617 713-2900). Reprinted with permission. The Lean Enterprise Institute is a nonprofit training, publishing, and research organization founded by James Womack, PhD, in August 1997. It has developed simple but powerful tools for implementing a set of ideas known as lean thinking.

Spear SJ. Learning to lead at Toyota. Harvard Business Review. 2004 May;82(5):78-86, 151.

This article describes the experience of a new Toyota plant manager as he is fully immersed in the Toyota Production System (TPS).  The author contends that companies that try to take pieces from Toyota's model will never be able to duplicate the success because they often fail to recognize the underlying principles of TPS. 

Frampton S, Gilpin L, Charmel P (Editors)
San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass; 2003

A step-by-step approach to implementing patient-centered care based on the Planetree model.

Gerteis M, Edgman-Levitan S, Daley J, Delbanco TL (eds.)
San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass; 1993

An in-depth look at how health care systems can improve the quality and delivery of care by including the patient, while at the same time make the patient's hospitalization more humane.

Meyer JA, Silow-Carroll S, Kutyla T, Stepnick LS, and Rybowski LS. Hospital quality: Ingredients for success — overview and lessons learned. The Commonwealth Fund. Jul 2004.

This article documents and describes the keys to success for four high quality hospitals in the US. The authors hope to use the successes of these organizations to offer a guide for other hospitals who wish to make improvements in the quality of care they deliver.