Performance indicators in lean healthcare environments: a comparison between Brazilian and American hospitals

• Grant number: 18/05026-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: October 01, 2018
• End date: January 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Production Engineering - Production Management
• Principal Investigator: Kleber Francisco Espôsto
• Grantee: Túlio Fígaro Ulhoa
• Supervisor: Rapinder Singh Sawhney
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Tennessee (UT), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 17/04702-0 - Structuring a Performance Measurement System in Surgery Centers to support Lean Healthcare innitiatives., BP.MS

Abstract

The introduction of lean in hospitals created a new trend in operations management research, commonly known as lean healthcare. The development of lean healthcare initiatives can directly impact the quality and safety of patients, as well as improvements in the processes and finances of healthcare organizations. The surgical center, one of the most relevant hospital's sectors, could be the focus of these improvements, since its critical to patients in need for surgical procedures and important for the financial sustainability of the whole organization. To evaluate lean healthcare, performance indicators, or KPIs, can present evidences of improvements or elucidate areas where efforts could be focused. In this proposal, the main idea aims the comparison of performance measurement and evaluation processes between Brazilian and American hospitals, which share socio-economic differences, but could also present similarities that would benefit both organizations. The idea, combined with lean healthcare, would allow studies regarding the process of measurement and evaluation improvement projects, encouraging new approaches focused on these topics. The structure of this project could be divided in two parts, through a case study methodology. The first part could be defined as identification of similarities and differences between surgical centers in these two countries. The second one would be focused on a critical assessment of these information, highlighting the relationship between lean healthcare and performance measurement on these environments. As a result, a paper focused on this case study could be developed in partnership with international researchers, with the intention to publish the obtained results and foster future researches in the area, as well as help practitioners in healthcare environments to promote improvement projects that would positively affect patients and collaborators through lean and performance management. (AU)