Lean - a set of tool that improves efficiency and the most important - improves profitability. 

Nowadays, hospitals are also using lean tools. Hospitals and other healthcare institutions are required to spend considerable time with patients which keeps other patients in line waiting. To clear problems of all of them, is a stressful job for doctors who attend them. One way to solve this is to add more staff to your organization. But, this has a flip side also. It will add cost to you. So, you have to think in a different way. You have to think in such a way, so that you clear all your stresses without incurring any extra cost.

This is where the Lean comes handy. By streamlining your process, it will add efficiency to your healthcare institution. Some of the immediate outcomes include reduction of lab turnaround time, reduction of emergency department turnaround time, etc. Apart from this, with effective management, doctors, nurses and other staffs attending patients can ease their stress and also they do not keep other patients waiting. You do not have to add extra workforce. Your healthcare institution’s efficiency will improve and cost will reduce.

Located at Sioux Falls, United States, Avera Medical Group applied lean practices to improve efficiency. Read at http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/business-journal/2014/05/07/health-systems-learn-lean/8781179/  to know how the clinic did it.