Using Lean management to leverage innovation in healthcare projects: case study of a public hospital in the UAE

Abstract

This paper demonstrates that Lean management serves as a foundation to leverage innovation throughout the healthcare projects. An organisation that successfully accommodates both Lean and innovation will gain higher competitive advantage and reach long-term sustainability. Innovation in the healthcare sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is encouraged through responses to the challenges of patient needs and government pressure on the organisations towards innovation and sustainability concerns. The objective of the paper is to investigate critical success factors (CSFs) for effective diffusion of Lean innovation in healthcare projects in the UAE. A conceptual model is developed to explain the CSFs for diffusion of Lean innovation in the healthcare projects. A public hospital that implemented Lean innovation projects in the UAE was selected as a case study and the data provided through the interviews were reviewed and analysed. It is concluded that the successful implementation of Lean innovation had outstanding implications: It has markedly and sustainably decreased patient access and waiting time, improved safety and patient satisfaction and supported the hospital culture of empowering front-line caregivers. The championing role of leadership commitment and management support, and employee involvement across all levels is required for successful implementation.

Leadership requirements for Lean versus servant leadership in health care: a systematic review of the literature

“…Faced with uneven quality, lapses in patient safety, pressure to curtail costs, rapidly aging populations, and rising technology expenses, health care organizations are seeking ways to improve quality and efficiency while reducing costs. 1 , 2 Health care leaders are adopting management techniques and tools used in manufacturing and other industries, especially Lean, a management philosophy that focuses on improving processes and eliminating waste to add value for customers. Lean calls for a holistic change in management style and organizational culture, requiring leaders to develop new skills and attitudes and adopt new behaviors.…”

Patient feedback to improve quality of patient-centred care in public hospitals: a systematic review of the evidence

“…The methodological characteristics and main ndings are summarised in Table 1. A total of 77,588 participants contributed data to 17 studies, and participants characteristics were not reported in three (35)(36)(37). The 20 studies were conducted in inpatient or outpatient settings in public hospitals with ve studies providing additional details on the speciality settings.…”

“…professional practices, clinicians' responsiveness to patients, patient education, the physical hospital environment, quality improvements, and improving the use of feedback are provided in Table 2. Only one of the studies (38) reported their theoretical basis and four studies (35,(39)(40)(41) speci ed the use of quality improvement and experience-based co-design methodology. In addition to staff education, two studies (43,44) also reported on organisational level interventions as part of the suite of intervention.…”

Fatores críticos de sucesso para a sustentabilidade de <i>lean healthcare</i>: um estudo de caso

“…Na literatura, este fator crítico de sucesso é apontado como fundamental para a sustentabilidade e implantação do lean healthcare (DICKSON et al, 2009b;ROTTEAU et al, 2015;ABUHEJLEH;DULAIMI;ELLAHHAM, 2016…”

“…A sustentabilidade do lean é dependente da extensão da mudança cultural incorporada e treinamento do pessoal (AL-BALUSHI et al, 2014 ELLAHHAM, 2016;LINDSKOG et al, 2016). As especificações dos objetivos não devem ser tão rígidas e detalhadas a ponto de impedirem a adaptação, mas a ausência de objetivos claros e mensuráveis torna difícil o acompanhamento da sustentabilidade do lean e tem efeitos negativos no processo de aprendizagem, que é necessário (LINDSKOG et al, 2016).…”