Who are we? Our Team

With diverse expertise and wide ranging professional backgrounds, our team is dedicated to advancing healthcare organizations to better serve patients around the world.

Who we are 

PLHS is an organization that focuses on physician led healthcare transformation to ensure better quality care for patients and families. Our goal is deep cultural change. We focus less on the tools of Lean instead providing customized education and support aimed at creating strong Lean physicians and healthcare leaders.

Our team has achieved industry-leading results at Seattle Children’s and Seattle Children’s Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center and we want to guide you in doing the same. We can help you lead your organization on a journey toward world-class healthcare excellence with total physician and staff engagement.

OUR VISION

In our Lean transformations we want to see physicians occupy the critical leadership role that only they can provide. Active and engaged physician leadership is the key to the very best outcomes for patients and their families, delivered in the most compassionate environment at the lowest possible cost. We know that this is possible and we believe passionately that transforming healthcare in this fashion is the critical element in creating healthcare organizations that patients and society can rely on.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

Physicians are the key building block in reducing the cost of care while improving the quality of outcomes. Physicians care deeply about the quality and effectiveness of healthcare delivery and when approached correctly are the most passionate and effective advocates of Lean healthcare transformation. However physicians, like most professionals, learn best from others who share their background and experiences. Our goal is to provide for them proven advanced lean practitioner physicians. These Lean physicians will share their experiences with newly engaged physicians in order to guide them into becoming advanced lean practitioners in their own right.

OUR PRINCIPALS

Lean is about personal change first and foremost. Mindset is first and foremost and we have a methodology that communicates well and appropriate to physicians. Nothing less then total engagement of staff is possible and Lean is for everyone. We do not sell tools or standard approaches. Lean is about customization and we have the experience and access to experts to make sure that we are mentors and coaches to all experts within the healthcare system.

OUR ROADMAP



  • - Organizational Assessment
  • - Coaching of values, principles, and methodology of top management
  • - Lean Study Mission and Strategy (Hoshin) Planning
  • - Scope of Work and Workshop Schedules
  • - Implementation of Lean and Organizational Plan
  • - Review and Revise elements as necessary to guarantee success
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A Message from Mark Reed MD, Our Founder

Creating Healthcare Organizations that our patients can rely on. That is the true promise of Lean in healthcare. My goal is to share my experience and expertise with others in order to see this promise realized. I have partnered with Jun Nakamuro and Collin McLoughlin to create Physician Led Healthcare Solutions, a consultancy dedicated to producing the deep culture change necessary for true Lean transformation.

As a physician my mission has always been to improve the lives of my patients. My understanding of this mission was enhanced by my opportunity to become a Lean leader as the Medical Director of Seattle Children’s Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center. The Bellevue facility is widely recognized as a pioneer in Lean healthcare systems. Implementation of the system there taught me first hand how a Lean management system creates a culture that ... Show More

generates meaningful improvements to the care of patients, the working environment of employees, and the long-term operational excellence of hospitals and healthcare systems.

Other organizations have attempted to replicate the results of the Bellevue model but have experienced only limited success. Witnessing this, I became compelled to provide help to other organizations by forming a consultancy with a different and more effective approach. It is an approach that focuses on the total engagement of staff directed by purposeful support from all levels of leadership, starting with physicians. To achieve real transformation, all leaders must go to where the actual work is done and tap into the full potential of each staff member. When staff are engaged and supported in this manner the quality of patient care soars.

The simple application of the tools and structure of Lean can create the appearance of results but fall short of creating the system-wide culture change that is necessary for an effective Lean management system. It is only within an environment of focused leader support that the maximum value of lean systems can be realized. We will not focus on tools in a simplified industrial approach. Our goal is deep cultural change. We provide customized education and support aimed at creating strong Lean physicians and healthcare leaders who can transform their organizations into centers of excellence. This approach achieved industry-leading results for the Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center. It can do the same for you.
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Our Coaches

As a team, we each pull from our own unique combination of experience in healthcare, industry, and consulting.
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Coach
Collin McLoughlin has lead over 40 Kaizen Study Missions to Japan to benchmark and mentor leading organizational leadership. He is recognized for designing, coaching,…
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Coach
Dr. Mark Reed brings to Physician Led Healthcare Solutions a world-known, proven track record of creating sustainable Lean implementation within healthcare.  Mark embraced…
PLHS_Jun-Nakamuro
Coach
Jun Nakamuro is certified to coach the Taiichi Ohno method of Lean and Kaizen. Beyond conventional industry wisdom, he has persistently sought to…

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