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Reconstituting lean in healthcare: From waste elimination toward ‘queue-less’ patient-focused care

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  • Schonberger, Richard J.

Abstract

With ultra-short sightlines to its patient-customers, healthcare should pursue lean in its own way rather than follow the often wayward lean practices of manufacturing, a sector in which few people ever see real customers. Because of the distance in manufacturing from end customers, this sector’s lean practices usually focus inward on operational efficiency through waste elimination. The nature of healthcare—with customers up close and immediate—calls for elevating its lean efforts toward customer-focused lean effectiveness: flexibly quick response along the multiple flow paths leading to and involving patients. This article illustrates that approach to lean by drawing from a case study in which widely scattered heart attack patients were transported to a central treatment hospital in a system-wide, highly coordinated program of quick response. This article shows that the keys to success—including high rates of saving lives and lean healthcare in general—boil down to just five lean methodologies, each focused on quick response. Lean healthcare, when practiced in this way, becomes deserving of status as a fixture in strategic management of the enterprise.

Suggested Citation

  • Schonberger, Richard J., 2018. "Reconstituting lean in healthcare: From waste elimination toward ‘queue-less’ patient-focused care," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 13-22.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:61:y:2018:i:1:p:13-22
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2017.09.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Radnor, Zoe J. & Holweg, Matthias & Waring, Justin, 2012. "Lean in healthcare: The unfilled promise?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(3), pages 364-371.
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    Cited by:

    1. Vineet Jain & Puneeta Ajmera, 2019. "Modelling of the factors affecting lean implementation in healthcare using structural equation modelling," International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, Springer;The Society for Reliability, Engineering Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM),India, and Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, vol. 10(4), pages 563-575, August.
    2. Letícia Bianchini de Barros & Laura Passos Caldas & Elena Bohomol & Alice Sarantopoulos & Vinicius Minatogawa & Renata Cristina Gasparino, 2022. "Evaluation of Waste Related to the Admission Process of Low-Complexity Patients in Emergency Services, in Light of the Lean Healthcare Philosophy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-11, June.
    3. Sudhanshu Singh & Rakesh Verma & Saroj Koul, 2022. "A collaborative method for simultaneous operations: case of an eye clinic," OPSEARCH, Springer;Operational Research Society of India, vol. 59(2), pages 711-731, June.

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