SynthesisInternational journal of environmental research and public health2020
Assessing the Impact of Lean Healthcare on Inpatient Care: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 81 citations in OpenAlex.
- Patient flow in emergency departments: a comprehensive umbrella review of solutions and challenges across the health system.BMC health services research · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of Lean Interventions Supported by Digital Technologies on Healthcare Services: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- The outcomes of Lean management in a large academic hospital in Finland in 2018-2023: a qualitative study.International journal for quality in health care : journal of the International Society for Quality in Health Care · 2026Article
- Application of Lean Methodologies in Plastic Surgery: A Systematic Review.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2025Article
- Integrating Lean Six Sigma into Microbiology Laboratories: Insights from a Literature Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- [Technological healthcare management arrangements: challenges for contemporary hospitals].Cadernos de saude publica · 2025Article
- New horizons in systems engineering and thinking to improve health and social care for older people.Age and ageing · 2024Article
- The Inflow, Throughput and Outflow of COVID-19 Patients in Dutch Hospitals: Experiences from Experts and Middle Managers.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Implementation of Lean Management Tools Using an Example of Analysis of Prolonged Stays of Patients in a Multi-Specialist Hospital in Poland.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Unveiling the Impact of Lean Leadership on Continuous Improvement Maturity: A Scoping Review.Journal of healthcare leadership · 2023Article
- Adopting Lean Management in Quality of Services, Cost Containment, and Time Management.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2022Article
- Road to Better Work-Life Balance? Lean Redesigns and Daily Work Time among Primary Care Physicians.Journal of general internal medicine · 2022Observational
- Applying Value Stream Mapping to Improve the Delivery of Patient Care in the Oncology Day Hospital.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Implementation of Lean Management in a Multi-Specialist Hospital in Poland and the Analysis of Waste.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- A Model for the Implementation of Lean Improvements in Healthcare Environments as Applied in a Primary Care Center.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- The Role of Value Stream Mapping in Healthcare Services: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Healthcare services are facing challenges in increasing their efficiency, quality of care, and coping with surges in demand. To this end, some hospitals have implemented lean healthcare. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the effects of lean healthcare (LH) interventions on inpatient care and determine whether patient flow and efficiency outcomes improve. The review was performed according to PRISMA. We used six databases to search for studies published from 2002 to 2019. Out of 5732 studies, 39 measuring one or more defined outcomes were included. Hospital length of stay (LOS) was measured in 23 studies, 16 of which reported a reduction, turnover time (TOT) decreased in six out of eight studies, while the turnaround time (TAT) and on-time starts (OTS) improved in all five and seven studies, respectively. Moreover, eight out of nine studies reported an earlier discharge time, and the boarding time decreased in all four cases. Meanwhile, the readmission rate did not increase in all nine studies. Lastly, staff and patient satisfaction improved in all eight studies. Our findings show that by focusing on reducing non-value-added activities, LH contributed to improving patient flow and efficiency within inpatient care.
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What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.