The Effects of Lean Management Program on Waiting Time and Service Quality at the Out-Patient Nephrology Clinic in a Tertiary Hospital

Abstract

This research was a quasi-experimental study with two-group pretest posttest-design. The objective of this study was to study the effects of lean management program on waiting time and service quality. The sample group consisted of 60 patients with stage 3 chronic kidney disease that were divided into experimental group and control group with 30 respondents each, by using a purposive sampling. The tools used in this research were: 1) Lean Management Program, and 2) The tools used for collecting data that are time record form for patient services and service quality questionnaires. The content validity was verified by five experts and the content validity index was 0.92. The reliability was determined by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient that was 0.96. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistic, The results showed that. The mean waiting time of the experimental group patients after using the lean management program was significantly less than the control group patients who received conventional services (p < .05). The mean service quality in the experimental group after using the lean management program (x̅ = 4.25, SD = .515) was significantly higher than those in the control group that received traditional services (x̅ = 3.70, SD = 148) (p < .05). The results showed that the lean management program has an effect on the waiting time and service quality therefore nursing administrators can apply this program to develop other services.