About Naida Grunden

A professional writer for over 20 years, Naida Grunden has spent the past 7 years documenting the work of the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (PRHI) and now works as a Lean healthcare educational consultant. Currently, she teaches reVIEW courses (www.leanhealthcarewest.com) and documents the work of Nashville-based Healthcare Performance Partners (www.leanhealthcareperformance.com), in addition to consulting with a leading medical device manufacturer on implementation of Lean principles and techniques. She also speaks nationally and internationally on the topic of Toyota-based principles in health care.

Ms. Grunden is the author of numerous general and academic articles, in addition to the acclaimed book, The Pittsburgh Way to Efficient Healthcare. The book describes the work of PRHI, a small nonprofit organization, which began in 2001 to pilot Lean experiments in competing hospitals across Southwestern Pennsylvania. The effort produced some of the first genuine, on-the-ground evidence that a Toyota-based industrial model could work in health care.

Ms. Grunden holds a BA in English from California State University, East Bay and a secondary English teaching credential from California State University, San Francisco. She is a member of the American Medical Writers Association and an Affiliate Member of the National Speakers Association

Clients have included...

Healthcare Performance Partners

Lean Healthcare West

Jewish Healthcare Foundation

Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative

Edwards LifeSciences

Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC)

Wasdin Law LLC

Whatcom Alliance for Healthcare Access

St Joseph PeaceHealth