The Effectiveness of a Lean Service Model on Service Duration and Satisfaction among Healthcare Providers and Caregivers of Pediatric Thalassemia Patients Receiving Day Care Blood Transfusion at Surin Hospital
Keywords:
Day-care Service Model, Pediatric Thalassemia Patients, Lean ConceptAbstract
This one-group pretest–posttest quasi-experimental study aimed to examine the effects of implementing a new lean service model on service duration and satisfaction among healthcare providers and caregivers of pediatric thalassemia patients receiving day care blood transfusion at Surin Hospital. The study sample consisted of 30 participants, selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected from November to December 2024. Research instruments included: 1) the lean service model for pediatric thalassemia patients receiving day care blood transfusion at Surin Hospital, 2) a satisfaction questionnaire for caregivers, 3) a satisfaction questionnaire for healthcare providers, and 4) a service duration record form for each step of the service process. The content validity index of the instruments was 1.00, and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the satisfaction questionnaires were .87 and .89, respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-tests. The research findings were as follows.
1. After implementation, pediatric thalassemia patients receiving day care blood transfusion at Surin Hospital experienced a statistically significant reduction in service duration compared to pre-implementation (p-value < .001). The total turnaround time (TAT) from the beginning to the end of the service process decreased from 852.30 minutes (SD = 90.831) to 755.70 minutes (SD = 78.391).
2. Satisfaction scores among healthcare providers showed no significant difference between pre- and post-implementation.
3. Satisfaction scores among caregivers also showed no significant difference between pre- and post-implementation.
The findings suggest that hospitals should consider expanding the application of lean principles to other service units, such as the phlebotomy and laboratory departments, to further improve efficiency and reduce patient waiting times.
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