LEAN HOSPITALS

Dr. Augustine Sylvester Stallone

Business Excellence, Kauvery Hospital, India

Introduction

When I first joined Kauvery on June 20, 2022, the Business Excellence HOD, Mr. Dhanasekar, handed me the book Lean Hospitals by Mark Graban and told me that our Managing Director, Dr. Manivannan Selvaraj, recommended it to newcomers to the department. My first task was to complete the book.

Lean Hospitals

Mark Graban is an internationally recognized expert in the field of Lean Healthcare. His book explores how the principles of Lean thinking can be applied to healthcare to improve patient care and reduce costs. Lean thinking is a philosophy of continuous improvement that focuses on identifying and eliminating waste. It is a proven approach to improving efficiency and quality in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, and service.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part introduces the concept of Lean thinking and its application to healthcare. The second part discusses specific Lean tools and techniques that can be used to improve hospital operations, such as 5S, Kanban and VSM (Value Stream Mapping). The third part explores the challenges of implementing Lean in healthcare and how to overcome them.

Key Take away:

The key takeaways from the book is that

Lean is not just about reducing costs. It is also about improving quality and patient care. By eliminating waste and improving efficiency, hospitals can free up resources to focus on what is most important: providing the best possible care to their patients. The book provides many examples of how Lean has been used successfully in hospitals around the world.
Lean hospitals are not just for large hospitals. Lean can be implemented in hospitals of all sizes, from small community hospitals to large academic medical centres.
Lean is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Every hospital is different, and what works for one hospital may not work for another. It is important to tailor your Lean implementation to the specific needs of your hospital.
Lean is not a quick fix. It takes time and effort to implement Lean and to see results. However, the long-term benefits of Lean are worth the investment.

Discussion with Managing Director

After completing the book, I was asked to make a presentation on the key factors of the book and to review it with my HOD. Once the review was complete, I was asked to meet with our MD, Dr Manivannan, to discuss my experience with the book.

During the discussion, Dr Manivannan shared his insights and thoughts on the book, Lean Hospitals, and the Lean concept, as well as several Lean practices that are being implemented across Kauvery hospitals.

After the discussion, I was able to understand the following:

The principles of Lean hospitals can help organizations become both innovative and competitive.
Lean hospitals emphasize a changed mind-set in identifying and eradicating production process waste (TIMWOODS)
The discussion changed my perspective on quality and process improvement, and helped me to understand how easy work can be simplified while maintaining quality. It also challenged my assumptions about what quality means

Conclusion

Overall, I found Lean Hospitals to be a very informative and practical book. It provides a clear and concise overview of Lean thinking and its application to healthcare. The book is full of examples of how Lean has been used to improve patient care and reduce costs in hospitals.

I would highly recommend Lean Hospitals to anyone who is interested in improving the quality and efficiency of healthcare delivery. It is a must-read for healthcare workers, both Supportive and clinicians alike and the book is available in KOACH App for perusal.

Dr Augustine Sylvester Stallone

Business Excellence