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Review

Assessing the Impact of Lean Healthcare on Inpatient Care: A Systematic Review

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Facultad de Ingeniería, Arquitectura y Diseño, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada 22860, Mexico
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Facultad de Ciencias de la Ingeniería, Administrativas y Sociales, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Tecate 21460, Mexico
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Facultad de Ciencias de la Ingeniería y Tecnología, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Tijuana 22260, Mexico
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Department of Systems and Production Engineering, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis 88040, Brazil
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Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(15), 5609; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155609
Received: 25 June 2020 / Revised: 23 July 2020 / Accepted: 29 July 2020 / Published: 4 August 2020
Healthcare services are facing challenges in increasing their efficiency, quality of care, and coping with surges in demand. To this end, some hospitals have implemented lean healthcare. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the effects of lean healthcare (LH) interventions on inpatient care and determine whether patient flow and efficiency outcomes improve. The review was performed according to PRISMA. We used six databases to search for studies published from 2002 to 2019. Out of 5732 studies, 39 measuring one or more defined outcomes were included. Hospital length of stay (LOS) was measured in 23 studies, 16 of which reported a reduction, turnover time (TOT) decreased in six out of eight studies, while the turnaround time (TAT) and on-time starts (OTS) improved in all five and seven studies, respectively. Moreover, eight out of nine studies reported an earlier discharge time, and the boarding time decreased in all four cases. Meanwhile, the readmission rate did not increase in all nine studies. Lastly, staff and patient satisfaction improved in all eight studies. Our findings show that by focusing on reducing non-value-added activities, LH contributed to improving patient flow and efficiency within inpatient care. View Full-Text
Keywords: inpatient care; lean healthcare; efficiency; patient flow; systematic review; length of stay; turnaround time; turnover time; on-time starts; boarding time; readmission rate; discharge time inpatient care; lean healthcare; efficiency; patient flow; systematic review; length of stay; turnaround time; turnover time; on-time starts; boarding time; readmission rate; discharge time
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MDPI and ACS Style

Zepeda-Lugo, C.; Tlapa, D.; Baez-Lopez, Y.; Limon-Romero, J.; Ontiveros, S.; Perez-Sanchez, A.; Tortorella, G. Assessing the Impact of Lean Healthcare on Inpatient Care: A Systematic Review. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 5609. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155609

AMA Style

Zepeda-Lugo C, Tlapa D, Baez-Lopez Y, Limon-Romero J, Ontiveros S, Perez-Sanchez A, Tortorella G. Assessing the Impact of Lean Healthcare on Inpatient Care: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(15):5609. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155609

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zepeda-Lugo, Carlos, Diego Tlapa, Yolanda Baez-Lopez, Jorge Limon-Romero, Sinue Ontiveros, Armando Perez-Sanchez, and Guilherme Tortorella. 2020. "Assessing the Impact of Lean Healthcare on Inpatient Care: A Systematic Review" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 15: 5609. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155609

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