Lean, Shingo, and the Baldrige Framework: A Comprehensive Method to Achieve a Continuous-Improvement Management System

SummaryThe U.S. health-care system is hampered by the lack of a comprehensive continuous improvement management system that empowers providers with data to improve care. But a well-known management framework and a specific management approach fills this gap — the Baldrige Excellence Framework and the Shingo Model of organizational excellence. Hospitals successfully achieving the Baldrige Framework have documented high performance on critical measures of cost, quality, patient satisfaction, and worker satisfaction. We discuss the relationship between Baldrige and Shingo, review the evidence base for the achievements of the approaches to date, and suggest how government, accrediting agencies, and payers might best promote wider adoption of this integration.