First steps towards a lean hospital: experiences made after a pilot lean project of Spitaeler Schaffhausen from a gynaecological point of view

Introduction Lean healthcare is the application of “lean” ideas in healthcare facilities to minimize waste in every process, procedure, and task through an ongoing system of improvement.

In February 2020, a pilot project was developed to implement lean principles in different areas of a interdisciplinary ward in the hospital Spitaeler Schaffhausen in Switzerland.

The aim of this study was to present some of the results of this project.

Material and methods Questionnaires were carried out to investigate the changes due to lean among medical workers and patients of this specific ward. Furthermore, the use of tools such as huddle boards and patient boards as a means of communication and coordination was examined.

Results The results showed improvement of the daily routine work with better structure, productivity and a higher employee efficiency. The patients reported having more transparency about treatment plans and further measures. Huddle boards and patient boards proved excellent tools to visualise lean techniques.

Discussion Finding new solutions to almost unsustainable health expenditures after pandemics such as Covid-19, it is of utmost necessity to help rein in costs and add value for patients. One area of focus is increasing customer (patients and payers) satisfaction and doing so profitably. As described in earlier studies, this study too showed eliminating waste at every level of an organisation as a fundamental to lean principles. We were also able to show increased productivity and improve patient and employee satisfaction.

Diese Studie wird an der SGGG in 06/2022 als Poster präsentiert.

Publication History

Article published online:
11 October 2022