Implementation of Lean Management Tools Using an Example of Analysis of Prolonged Stays of Patients in a Multi-Specialist Hospital in Poland

Agnieszka Zdęba-Mozoła (), Remigiusz Kozłowski, Anna Rybarczyk-Szwajkowska, Tomasz Czapla and Michał Marczak
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Agnieszka Zdęba-Mozoła: Department of Management and Logistics in Healthcare, Medical University of Lodz, 90-131 Lodz, Poland
Remigiusz Kozłowski: Centre for Security Technologies in Logistics, Faculty of Management, University of Lodz, 90-237 Lodz, Poland
Anna Rybarczyk-Szwajkowska: Department of Management and Logistics in Healthcare, Medical University of Lodz, 90-131 Lodz, Poland
Tomasz Czapla: Department of Management, Faculty of Management, University of Lodz, 90-237 Lodz, Poland
Michał Marczak: Department of Management and Logistics in Healthcare, Medical University of Lodz, 90-131 Lodz, Poland

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 2, 1-23

Abstract: Healthcare institutions in Poland constantly encounter challenges related both to the quality of provided services and to the pressures associated with treatment effectiveness and economic efficiency. The implemented solutions have a goal of improving the service quality of lowering the continuously increasing operational costs. The aim of this paper is to present the application of Lean Management (LM) tools in a Polish hospital, which allowed for the identification of prolonged stays as one of the main issues affecting the service costs and the deteriorating financial results of the hospital. The study was conducted in the neurology department and involved an analysis of data for the whole of 2019 and the first half of 2022. In addition, surveys were conducted among the medical staff to help identify the main causes of prolonged stays. Methods of data analysis and feasible solutions were developed in order to improve the economic efficiency of the unit. The analysis shows that the application of LM tools may contribute to improvement in the functioning of hospitals and that further studies should focus on the development of the method to evaluate efficiency of the implemented solutions intended at shortening the hospital stays of the patients.

Keywords: Lean Management; lean healthcare; length of stay; waste; efficiency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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