Unveiling managerial perspectives on the essential role of lean implementation in Romanian healthcare

Abstract

Healthcare is an extremely important sector in our society and lives. Thus, the best management methods and techniques must be applied on a large scale to ensure prosperous conditions for world population and young generations. Lean Management represents a system or methodology which helps to increase efficiency and efficacy by eliminating waste and focusing on the activities which add value for the customer, thus for the patient in healthcare field. By eliminating several types of waste on a sustained, continuous basis, operational excellence is achieved. The interest towards applying lean philosophy in the medical field is growing worldwide, as top hospitals apply Lean as a business strategy to influence and monitor various performance indicators, such us: improving employee satisfaction, increasing service quality level, improve safety at the workplace, reducing costs and so on. The purpose of this article is to present the results of a survey conducted in public and private units of Romanian healthcare with the aim to know the management opinion regarding the need to implement a management system based on the identification and elimination of waste. Out of the big database, which is subject of a wider analysis to be published this year, we selected and analyzed the answers of the top managers, as the top management is a key element of the successful Lean Management application.