NC Rural Hospitals Lean Together to Zap Waste

"It makes everybody focus on that reason we're all in business, that patient, and what kind of experience they're going to go home with," he said.

Both CEOs agree that big or small, every institution has to figure out how to operate more efficiently while keeping patients safe and happy.

"We've got to do more with less," Easton said. "Not just by squeezing the orange harder, but by redesigning the orange so that you don't have to squeeze it."