Applying Lean Techniques in Hospital

Abstract:     
US hospitals aim to provide quality service and treatment at reasonable cost to their customers but public have been complaining about the increasing health costs, hospital charges, doctor’s fees, poor service quality, long waiting times etc. Rising public concerns about health costs and high insurance premiums have been major election issues. Environmental issues have also come to focus and hospitals are trying to become environmentally friendly. Hospitals have been seriously considering employing methods to improve patient care, efficiency and to reduce costs. There have been many attempts to adopt Japanese management technique popularly known as lean techniques in hospitals. Many successes have been reported. The authors have reviewed the literature and have identified the reasons for success. The authors have also found a hospital where the lean implementation was a partial success and discussed in detail the reasons. The authors recommend some guidelines for hospitals embarking on lean implementation.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 9

Keywords: Lean application, Lean management, Hospital administration

working papers series