Tiempo de atención al paciente en la unidad de consulta externa mediante la aplicación de Lean Healthcare

Abstract

Healthcare services face the continuous challenge of optimizing patient care to ensure hospital efficiency and quality. This research project aims to optimize patient care time with a Lean Healthcare approach in the outpatient unit of the Hospital Básico Privado San Bartolomé. In response to this, the current situation was analyzed, detecting inefficiencies in patient flow management and task distribution, as well as high waiting room occupancy that affected the patient experience. Using ABC analysis, the most prevalent wastes were identified and depicted on a value stream map, highlighting issues such as waits, information handling, unnecessary movements, and defects. With the help of the weighted factors method, it was determined that the most suitable Lean Healthcare tools are standardized work and 5S. Subsequently, the current situation was simulated in FlexSim, revealing a high waiting time. To tackle this issue, a new simulation was used applying the standardized work tool. The results showed a reduction in waiting time of 12,91% the length of stay of patients decreased by 8,43% thus generating a decrease in waiting room occupancy. With the results obtained, it was considered that the proposal proves to be effective in optimizing patient care time in the outpatient unit, validating the importance of Lean Healthcare methodology to improve time management in the hospital.