Disconnects and defects in care - such as duplication, poor integration between services or avoidable adverse events - are costly to the health system and potentially harmful to patients and families. For patients living with multiple chronic conditions, such disconnects can be particularly detrimental. Lean is an approach to optimizing value by reducing waste (eg, duplication and defects) and ...

Background: Health care services are  costly and complex and provide facilities that significantly affect the economy and quality of life of individuals. In this study, we aimed to determine the gap between patients’ expectations and perceptions of hospital service quality to provide reference data for creating strategies to improve health care quality.  Method: In this descriptive cross-secti...

This study investigated the socio-demographic characteristics and emotional and behavioral factors associated with the perceived need and actual use of adolescent mental health services according to genders in Korea. We assessed 1,857 middle school students aged 14-16 years. We administered a self-reported questionnaire including questions on their socio-demographic data, Korean Youth Self Repo...

Most studies on organisational lean transformation have been conducted in the North-Western hemisphere. This questions cross-cultural generalisability and understanding of managers’ leadership style that is required to effectively guide transformations. Our mixed-methods study compares effective Brazilian Dutch behaviours values builds a total 43 in-depth interviews 100 surveys with focal manag...

This paper presents a comprehensive lean approach, based on Value Stream Management (VSM), which makes it possible to enhance the performance of a service, by spotting and tackling its criticalities. The study is motivated by the growing need to extend lean concepts to the service industry and, on the other hand, by a lack of operating tools capable to support technical staff in this effort. Sp...