
John Toussaint, MD, ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value
John S. Toussaint, MD, is CEO emeritus of ThedaCare, and CEO of the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value.
- Long- and Short-term ROI
- Getting Started
- What Lean Means to Me
- Culture Change
- Course Corrections and Sustainability
- Leadership
From 2000–2008, Dr. Toussaint served as president and chief executive officer of ThedaCare, Inc., a community-owned, four-hospital health system including twenty-one physician clinics, as well as home health capabilities, senior care facilities, hospice care and behavioral health. ThedaCare is the largest employer in Northeast Wisconsin with nearly 5,400 employees, serving an eight-county region.
During his tenure as president and CEO of ThedaCare, Dr. Toussaint introduced the ThedaCare Improvement System (TIS), which is derived from the Toyota Production system. This model of continuous improvement helped save millions of dollars in healthcare costs by reducing patient errors, improving outcomes and delivering better quality care at a higher value.
Under Dr. Toussaint’s watch, ThedaCare’s revenue grew two and a half times. The organization received multiple quality awards including the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s No. 1 ranking for HEDIS® measures two years in a row and has been using electronic medical records since 1997.
In 2009 the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value and the Lean Enterprise Institute formed a nonprofit partnership to make sure lean thinking is part of healthcare’s future.

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