Forecasting the impact of lean tools and practices on the service quality in a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Purpose – Hospitals always strive to provide quality treatments at a nominal cost to their customers. To achieve this eminence, business improvement methodologies of other divisions such as lean practices are being ingeniously merged. Implementing lean practices in healthcare has always been different from other industries. There are two objectives of this paper, first, to explore the application of lean tools in the service-oriented workplace, and second, to study the contribution of lean culture in improving the service quality in the hospital. Design/methodology/approach – The study was carried out in a tertiary care hospital. The first part of the research was based on a survey that included the collection of the relevant data to investigate the impact of lean tools and techniques on work efficiency and performance. In the second part, a comparative study was conducted to understand the role of lean interventions in improving the service quality in the hospital. The objectives of the research were answered using hypotheses. Findings – The findings elicit that implementation of lean tools in the hospital generates a positive and significant impact on employee work performance and efficiency.