Lean thinking for healthcare services: how far does information quality affect the emergency services?

Abstract

This aim of this paper is to reduce waste in emergency services. It defines waste as any event that causes delay, waiting, disruption or repeating operation, the research adapts lean thinking approach to suit the emergency services taking into consideration the quality of information flow. The paper discusses the differences between manufacturing and healthcare environment and considers the related dimensions of information quality. The paper employs observational methodology and presents results of observations conducted in emergency services of three Chinese hospitals. The study shows that up to 22% of the emergency time can be saved via reducing and eliminating of preventable waste, that is, through introducing information quality methodology within the healthcare system.