Abstract
Purpose - Treatment delays must be avoided, especially in oncology, to assure sustainable high-quality health care and increase the odds of survival. The purpose of this paper is to hypothesize that waiting times would decrease and patients and employees would benefit, when specific lean interventions are incorporated in an organizational improvement approach.
Design/methodology/approach - In 2013, 15 lean interventions were initiated to improve flow in a single radiotherapy institute. Process/waiting times, patient satisfaction, safety, employee satisfaction, and absenteeism were evaluated using a mixed methods methodology (2010-2014). Data from databases, surveys, and interviews were analyzed by time series analysis, chi(2), multi-level regression, and t-tests.
Findings - Median waiting/process times improved from 20.2 days in 2012 to 16.3 days in 2014 (p
Originality/value - Combining specific lean interventions with an organizational improvement approach improved waiting times, patient safety, employee satisfaction, and absenteeism on the short term. Continuing evaluation of effects should study the improvements sustainability.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 103-118 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2017 |
Keywords
- Change management
- Lean thinking
- Patient safety
- Incident reporting
- Lean management
- Job satisfaction
- Continuous quality improvement
- Patient flow
- Waiting time
- OF-THE-LITERATURE
- HEALTH-CARE
- SAFETY RESEARCH
- QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
- MIXED-METHODS
- RADIOTHERAPY
- EPISTEMOLOGY
- STRATEGIES
- FRAMEWORK
- CULTURE