LEAN MANAGEMENT IN HEALTHCARE SERVICES: AN EVALUATION OF A PRIVATE HOSPITAL CORONARY INTENSIVE CARE

The competition of today’s world requires that healthcare institutions need to empower financial and human resources management. Lean management which invented and improved by the industry is accepted as a key to allocate a sustainable services in healthcare as well. This study aims to evaluate a heavy circulation coronary intensive care unit in terms of lean management principles. Firstly, the value stream mapping of the process is created by observing the steps in the process and interviewing with the related personell. There are basically two types of patient processes in coronary intensive care unit. The first is referral patients while the second is patients who come from policlinics. The waiting times due to determining suitable ambulance were observed intensively when the referral patient process was examined. Patients who come from policlinics need to apply to blood collection center outside from the unit. This causes more waiting times and unnecessary walking. Some kind of wastes related to inventory such as waiting for the material, transporting and untidiness were detected as well. In conclusion, the hospital can prevent wastes in inventory, transporting, waiting and unnecessery efforts by managing the human resources more rational, using Kanban and 5S method in inventory and forming Kaizen groups for specific events in the processes