Lean, a Tool Set or a Mind Set? A Healthcare Case Study

Abstract

Applying “Lean” (Womack and Jones 1996 [2003]; Hines et al. 2004) in healthcare services has been the most visible and recent trend in services industry (Brandao de Souza 2009; Holm and Ahlstrom 2010; Jones 2006). However, is “Lean” in healthcare just a buzzword, a set of tools (Hines and Rich 1997) for quick-wins or a sustainable enterprise process improvement system? Lean thinking has a sustainability issue that needs to be addressed. In order to assess how embedded are Lean principles and tools in healthcare and how organizations sustain the gains, a case study was conducted in a healthcare organization with 21 diagnosis units running Kaizen events. This study aims to bring some answers regarding the regression causes in Lean practices and healthcare organizations priorities in matching customer needs to value streams provided. Conclusions about: (1) translation of Lean models and practices from other settings (manufacturing) to healthcare (services), (2) how elimination of waste in healthcare is made by eliminating non-value-added activities and how customers perceived the value creation, and (3) how is (internal and external) communication of value, are presented, as well as some thoughts concerning the future of Lean in healthcare. In spite of being supported by a single case study, the followed approach and the research design enables any other researcher to replicate it in other units of analysis with similar inclusion criteria.