"If you are a leader in a mental health organization who is passionate about improving the efficiency — and, more importantly, the effectiveness — of everything your organization does, then Transforming Mental Health Care will certainly point you in the right direction.The authors share an important combination of experiences, from clinical care and systems engineering, to provide a translation of the "Lean" methodology that will help you provide continually safer, higher quality care at a lower cost and with less delay. This book goes beyond tools and methods and extends into the critically-important topics of culture, leadership, and change management. Transforming Mental Healthcare effectively models the Lean method by first identifying problems and opportunities (gaps) before getting into causes and, finally, solutions that drive better performance. Beyond the benefits to patients, clinicians (and all staff who play various roles in the support of care) will find a more engaging, less frustrating workplace in which they can contribute to continuous improvement, if not excellence. Everybody wins!"Mark Graban, author of Lean Hospitals, Healthcare Kaizen, and Measures of Success"Applying the modern sciences of quality improvement to the field of behavioral health care may sound like a stretch; but think again. In "Transforming Mental Healthcare," Sunil Khushalani and Antonio DePaolo, a psychiatrist and an engineer, show just how promising and powerful that combination can be. Every knowledgeable student of health care systems knows today that mental health must be brought to the center of the agenda, and this timely, unique book makes improving mental health care practical and accessible to all."Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement"This book offers a detailed and sobering look at the current state of psychiatry in the U.S. Using patient vignettes the authors explain how lean thinking could relieve suffering and help communities build sustainable mental health systems."John Toussaint, MD, Executive Chairman, Catalysis, Inc."Transforming Mental Healthcare is a wonderful undertaking. Ideally, we all have capability and confidence, the accumulation of life's experience, overlaid with resilience and agility, being able to perceive and process situations and then make dynamic adjustments—some fleeting others longer term—thereby improving comfort and competence. Bravo to Khushalani and DePaulo for showing how the very organizations missioned with restoring those qualities to our loved ones have the same characteristics, self-reflective in their adaptation and adjustment, constantly improving the care they deliver."Steven J. Spear, DBA MS MS, MIT Senior Lecturer and author The High Velocity Edge