ArticleHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland)2024
Economic Impact of Lean Healthcare Implementation on the Surgical Process.
Article in Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A Systematic Review of Lean Implementation in Hospitals: Impact on Efficiency, Quality, Cost, and Satisfaction.International journal of health policy and management · 2025Pooled it
- A Lean-based Digital Twin model for planning and governance in secondary and tertiary hospital networks.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Lean Adoption in Healthcare: Between Promise and Practice.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Application of modular surgical supply kits to preoperative preparation for thyroid surgery: a randomized controlled study.Frontiers in surgery · 2026Article
- Integrating Lean Six Sigma into Microbiology Laboratories: Insights from a Literature Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Optimizing neurosurgery clinic operations: a comparative study of interventions in Finland's public healthcare system.International journal for quality in health care : journal of the International Society for Quality in Health Care · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe objective of this study was to analyse and detail surgical process improvement activities that achieve the highest economic impact.
methodsOver 4 years, a team of technicians and healthcare professionals implemented a set of Lean surgical process improvement projects at Vall d'Hebron University Hospital (VHUH), Barcelona, Spain. Methods employed in the study are common in manufacturing environments and include reducing waiting and changeover time (SMED), reducing first time through, pull, and continuous flow. Projects based on these methods now form part of the daily routine in the surgical process. The economic impact on the hospital's surgical activity budget was analysed.
resultsProcess improvements have led to annual operational savings of over EUR 8.5 million. These improvements include better patient flow, better management of information between healthcare professionals, and improved logistic circuits.
conclusionsThe current cultural shift towards process management in large hospitals implies shifting towards results-based healthcare, patient-perceived value (VBHC), and value-added payment. A Lean project implementation process requires long-term stability. The reason a considerable number of projects fail to complete process improvement projects is the difficulty involved in establishing the project and improving management routines. Few studies in the literature have investigated the economic impact of implementing Lean management a posteriori, and even fewer have examined actual cases. In this real case study, changes to surgical block management were initiated from stage zero. After being carefully thought through and designed, changes were carried out and subsequently analysed.
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