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Healthcare Management vocabulary · Quality and Accreditation

Lean management

Meaning in healthcare management, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In healthcare management, lean management means: An approach, first developed in car manufacturing at Toyota, that improves processes by removing waste, such as waiting, unnecessary steps and errors, while adding value for the patient.

In Turkish: yalın yönetim, yalın yaklaşım

How it is used

Often just called 'Lean', and sometimes combined with Six Sigma. Hospitals use Lean tools such as process mapping, 5S and short daily team meetings called huddles. Front-line staff, not only managers, are expected to suggest improvements.

Example sentences

  1. Using lean management, the laboratory cut the time from sample to result by 40%.

  2. Lean management only works if staff are given time to fix problems.

Common collocations

  • lean management principles
  • lean tools
  • Lean Six Sigma
  • apply lean management
  • quality improvementA planned, continuous effort to make care safer, more effective and more efficient by measuring results, testing changes and learning from them.
  • bottleneckA point in a process where work slows down or piles up because demand at that step is greater than its capacity.
  • patient flowThe movement of patients through a hospital or health system, from arrival and assessment to treatment, transfer and discharge, ideally without unnecessary delays.
  • benchmarkA standard or result, often from other hospitals or national data, that you compare your own performance with.

More terms: Quality and Accreditation

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.