Lean and agility in the healthcare sector: the case of hospital de Lamego

• Autor(a) principal: Órfão, Luís Filipe Martins
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/14083
• topic: Gestão hospitalar; Cuidados de saúde; Eficácia organizacional; Eficiência organizacional; Análise organizacional; Lean Thinking; Agility; Leagility; Healthcare services; Pensamento Lean; Serviços de Saúde

Healthcare services have been subject of various research aiming at process improvement under a lean approach. Another perspective – Agility – has also been used, though in a lower scale, in order to analyse the ability of different hospital services to adapt to demand uncertainties. Both perspectives have a common denominator, the assessment of effectiveness and efficiency of the services in a healthcare setting context. The present research aims to analyse the impacts of the combination of both perspectives in the effectiveness and efficiency of an hospital service. The adopted methodology is based on a case study approach applied to the process of the ambulatory surgery service of Hospital de Lamego. Data was collected from direct observations, formal interviews and informal conversations. This process has been selected according to three criteria, which were fully met. The customer of the process was identified as well as his perception of value. The process has been mapped using a flow chart, on a process modelling perspective, as well as through the use of Value Stream Mapping (VSM), Process Activity Mapping and Spaghetti Diagram, which have enabled the identification of three types of waste and improvement suggestions. The results point out that leagility cannot be applied to the process, but the application of lean and agility would bring benefits in both efficiency and effectiveness, and contribute to value creation if improvements are introduced in hospital’s human resources and facilities management.