Cost Analysis of Nursing Activities Using Lean Services at the Medical Clinic of the Out Patient Department in the Tertiary Hospital

Abstract

 The objective of this descriptive research was to analyze the cost of nursing activities utilizing Lean

services in the outpatient department of the medicine clinic. The target population was nursing personnel cost reports for 30 cases. The sample comprised nursing cost reports for 30 patients. The data was collected from January to March 2024. Three sets of instruments were used: 1) Nursing activity records, 2) Dictionary of outpatient nursing activities, and 3) Activity driver cost data records. The content validity index was 1.0, and the observation reliability was 0.8. The statistics used were frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation.
The research results revealed that the total cost of nursing activities utilizing lean management was 73,109.55 Baht (LC:MC:CC = 40.33 : 11.03 : 48.63) which was lower than the cost under regular management with a total cost of 80,261.74 Baht with a difference of 7152.19 Baht. The total cost per activity was 117.27 Baht, and the cost per case was 2,436.98 Baht. The highest cost was for activity management and support activities at a total of 24,292.96 Baht, followed by pre-examination nursing activities at 23,901.01 Baht. A comparison revealed that the cost of Lean management was lower than that of regular management.
The research results show that nursing activities using the lean concept could reduce operation costs. Therefore, administrators could apply the results as guidelines for further improving the process of other service activities within the organization.