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Lean healthcare applies lean manufacturing principles to healthcare delivery, aiming to reduce unnecessary activities and defects. It distinguishes between value-added and non-value-added activities to eliminate the latter. The goal is to reduce mortality rates and unintentional injuries while preserving compassion. Staff are trained to review internal processes to eliminate waste, such as reclaiming wasted space to save capital outlay.
Lean healthcare is the application of lean manufacturing principles to healthcare delivery. The goal of any lean operation is twofold: to reduce the amount of time spent on unnecessary activities and to reduce defects in the production of goods or the provision of services. Lean healthcare distinguishes between value-added and non-value-added activities and procedures, with the goal of eliminating those that do not add value.
An example of an activity that adds value to lean healthcare is providing life-sustaining care to an injured person. That example can be likened to a nurse spending 15 minutes looking for surgical supplies that weren’t in the right place. This is a non-value-added activity, as the time spent looking for consumables adds no value to patient care. In lean manufacturing, strong efforts are made to avoid manufacturing defects through quality control measures. The application of this principle in health care is considered essential to reduce mortality rates and reduce the occurrence of unintentional injuries to patients.
There are substantial differences in applying lean principles to a healthcare setting. A hospital with sick or injured patients is a very different working environment from a factory that runs smoothly and follows a strict production schedule. In a factory, it is relatively easy to give directions and expect compliance with procedures that aim to reduce waste and increase efficiency.
In healthcare, even though workers are trained to anticipate a patient’s needs, medical situations can arise regardless of a timetable or schedule. Healthcare professionals are also expected to be compassionate and attentive to patients, bringing a human touch to healthcare. This is why few patients would want to rigorously apply lean manufacturing principles applied to a patient care environment. The goal of lean healthcare is to preserve compassion while reducing the variance of procedures and eliminating unnecessary activities.
This is achieved by helping healthcare professionals understand the difference between internal and primary processes and then training staff members to review internal processes with an eye towards eliminating waste. For example, an internal process is how a storage area is organized. On the other hand, a primary process would be the bedside care of a patient suffering from pain.
The storage area may have historically served a purpose directly related to patient care in the past, but over time it has become a catchall for furniture or tools that are not used frequently. If a hospital has few of these rooms, the overall impact on a lean operation may be minimal. If there are many such areas, however, the impact could be significant. If such denials occur on an even larger scale, a hospital board could approve spending the money needed to expand the facility’s infrastructure, due to a perception that there is not enough room for patient care. A lean healthcare strategy would be primarily about reclaiming wasted space, thus saving a significant capital outlay.
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