Applying Management Principles of Lean Manufacturing for Enhancing Efficiency and Effectiveness of Emergency Department Rooms

摘要

The lean manufacturing approach plays a vital role in reducing waste and enhancing productivity in the production environment and service setups. Lean manufacturing-based techniques might be employed in evaluating the efficiencies of different rooms in emergency departments (EDs) and hospitals. A lean thinking approach may be used in testing the usage of the existing facilities planned and constructed for patients’ use. In the present study, the management principles of lean manufacturing-based methodology have been used to test the usage of the ED services. Two vital rooms of the ED viz. rapid response trauma (RR-Trauma) and rapid response medical (RR-Medical) are studied in terms of crowding and bed occupancy. Using the concept of takt time (TT), an individual department’s efficiency and relative efficiency have been calculated to judge the effectiveness of the ED services. A case of a governmental, non-profit and teaching hospital in the southern region of Saudi Arabia has been studied to see the effect of staffed bed redistribution based on lean manufacturing concept. It has been revealed that ED is facing crowding and frequent critical ambulance diversion problems which require a management intervention to go for staffed bed redistribution to accommodate all of the patients’ arrivals. Furthermore, the optimal allocation of resources is essentially be achieved to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of ED rooms. Based on the lean manufacturing concept, the acceptable TT and efficiency for ED rooms are recommended.