My guest for Episode #327 of the podcast is Marc Rouppe van der Voort, Ph.D., who is joining me from Utrecht in the Netherlands. We first met back in 2009 when he invited me to come speak at a Dutch Lean Healthcare conference (which I blogged about here). We've crossed paths many times, as Marc has frequently visited the U.S. for the annual Lean Healthcare Transformation Summit, coming with a large group of Dutch Lean healthcare practitioners from many organizations (they collaborate through an organization he chairs called Lidz, which has 60 organizations as members). I've also had the chance to go back to visit and teach at Marc's current employer, St. Antonius Hospital, where he is vice president of operations management and leads the application of Lean principles and several supporting teams. He has also written three practical books on the application of Lean in healthcare. Today, we'll be talking about his learning and his experience with Lean in Dutch healthcare organizations -- what are the differences in the Dutch system and what are the ways in which it's similar to the American system? We'll also discuss the connections between Value Based Healthcare and Lean, with the focus on patient outcomes and quality of life... and other topics related to Lean and leadership.