Process Redesign for Health Care Using Lean Thinking: A Guide for Improving Patient Flow and the Quality and Safety of Care

About David I. Ben-Tovim

Dr. David Ben-Tovim is a psychiatrist and Clinical Epidemiologist by background. He trained in medicine and psychiatry in London at the Middlesex and St Georges University Hospital and later in Clinical Epidemiology at the Institute of Psychiatry also in London. He worked for three years in Botswana before migrating to South Australia where he has lived and worked in 1984. In 1998 whilst continuing part-time practice as a psychiatrist he became the Director of the Clinical Epidemiology Unit at the Flinders Medical Centre and in 2000 became Director of Clinical Governance. He initiated the Redesigning Care program at Flinders in 2004 and continued as the Director of the Redesigning Care and Clinical Epidemiology Units until 2014.Whilst Director of the Redesigning Care Unit Dr. Ben-Tovim became involved in teaching training and the development of programs of flow improvement and process redesign in all the Australian states and territories in New Zealand Singapore the Middle East (including Dubai Oman and Saudi Arabia) and South Africa as well as various parts of Europe and occasionally the U.S.A. He is the chairman and co-founder of the Australasian Lean Healthcare Network . Since 2005 the Network has put on annual Redesigning Care Summits in conjunction with Lean Enterprise Australia. The Summits draw participation from across the region. Dr. Ben-Tovim has a PhD as well as medical qualifications. He has been an active clinical researcher throughout his career. He is currently Professor Clinical Epidemiology and Process Redesign Flinders University Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Department of Primary Care. Currently he concentrates on training and research in Redesign and Process Improvement and on measurement and evaluation of indicators of healthcare safety and quality. Dr. Ben-Tovim has published on a range of topics in the peer reviewed literature including a series of frequently quoted articles on Lean Thinking and Redesign in Healthcare. He has also co-authored a textbook of psychiatry for developing countries and a book about his work in Botswana published by Tavistock /Routledge.