If This Were Assembly Line Medicine, You Could Stop the Line

Lean Blog by Mark Graban · Jul 27, 2026

A nurse executive posted on LinkedIn this week about what she called “assembly-line medicine.” She was describing an ambulatory surgery center where she once worked, where physicians booked roughly 80 percent of the day's procedures into a six-hour window. Then one patient arrives with pain, nausea, unstable vital signs, and poor mobility. Caring for that patient can require as much nursing work as three or four routine recoveries. The staffing model still counts that patient […] The post If This Were Assembly Line Medicine, You Could Stop the Line by Mark Graban appeared…