Barriers for lean healthcare implementation: a systematic literature review
Keywords:
Lean Production, Health Services, Barriers.Abstract
The literature has shown that some barriers can hinder the implementation of lean healthcare, negatively impacting the sustainability of this production system. Therefore, this paper aims to identify barriers to implementing lean healthcare, proposing principles and tools to deal with such barriers through a systematic literature review. Most of the papers focus only on the improvements provided by the implementation of lean healthcare. The analyses also showed that the papers focus on necessary factors for implementation, principles, methods, and implementation benefits. Tools, principles, and barriers to lean healthcare implementation were also identified. The barriers were grouped into five categories: (i) complexity of health systems; (ii) human factors; (iii) lack of a methodology; (iv) supply chain; and (v) lack of culture and a long-term vision. Recognizing lean implementation barriers allowed identifying problems and suggesting tools and principles dealing with barriers' challenges regarding lean production implementation. The paper contributes to lean healthcare practice, recognizing barriers that hinder this process, enabling managers to direct their efforts to deal with these challenges.
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