Application of Lean Management Methods in Health Care Sector: Case Study of Tunisian Private Polyclinic

The main objective of each company is to increase customer satisfaction by providing the product they need, in the required quantity and at the right time. In healthcare, the main goal is to satisfy the patients with the good quality of care and reduce the costs in the healthcare organizations. To achieve this objective, managers are invited to apply methods that contribute to the continuous improvement of service quality, such as the application of lean management activities (Value stream mapping, Six Sigma, 5S, PDCA, visual management, etc.…) which have proven effectiveness through several research works. The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the role of lean management system to improve patient satisfaction and reduce time wastage in healthcare. The case of a private Tunisian polyclinic is treated, where the ishikawa diagram is used for the diagnostic of the polyclinic situation and to highlight the existing problems, and a two Lean Management tools are applied: Visual Management and 5S Process.