The Importance Of Lean In The Healthcare Environment

The term lean or lean thinking is a process reengineering strategy that encompasses principles, and practices to improve and manage processes (Nicolay et al., 2012). There are varied definitions of lean, but the common denominator is to eliminate waste and improve efficiency. Radnor, Holweg, and Waring (2012) noted lean as a process improvement strategy leaders adopted to improve operational efficiency in 51% of service companies. Al-Balushi et al. (2014) noted some healthcare managers use lean as a strategy to address process improvement.
Even though some managers are using lean as a business strategy to address process improvement and operational efficiency, they are using this approach on a limited basis (Chassin, 2013; Naik et al., 2012, …show more content…
Adapting lean in the healthcare arena is in its early stages of development (Al-Balushi et al., 2014). According to de Souza (2009), the first application of lean in the healthcare environment is unclear; the first work published about lean healthcare was in 2001 by the NHS Modernisation Agency that attempted to utilize strategies of lean to address financial issues throughout the organization. Yusof, Khodambashi, and Mokhtar (2012) noted lean as a business management strategy. The utilization of lean by some organizations can reduce waste through increased efficiencies (Ulhassan et al., 2013). In this study, the focus will be on the strategies that healthcare managers use to address lean training in a rural care hospital to reduce waste and improve the quality of care to …show more content…
Watkins (2012) discussed the relationship between variables and possible use of quantitative data in addressing cause and effect. The quantitative research method is not appropriate to address the experiences of participants; therefore, the quantitative method would not provide the needed information to address the focus of this study. The mixed methods research approach is a combination of both the qualitative and quantitative methods (Agerfalk, 2013; Fakis, Hilliam, Stoneley, & Townsend, 2014). The mixed methods approach is used when the development of the study combines both qualitative research and quantitative research as suggested by Fakis et al. (2014). I cast off the mixed methods approach because the focus of this study is to explore how healthcare managers successfully adopt lean training strategies; therefore, qualitative research is suitable for this study. To this end, I rejected the quantitative and mixed method