Application of heijunka for surgical production leveling

Abstract

The increasing demand and the limitation of resources in health organizations raise the need for more efficient management. With demand higher than the capacity, patient queues increase, causing hospitals to need flexible management mechanisms to deal with the existing lists. In this context, adaptations of principles and methods of Industrial Engineering and Management, such as Lean Thinking and Heijunka, naturally arise. These adaptations contribute to the improvement of performance in health processes. This work aims to reduce the average resolution times of surgical cases by application of Heijunka to level the surgical production between different specialties of a large Brazilian hospital. With the application of Heijunka principles, the organization obtained an estimated mean reduction in the resolution time of elective surgeries from 17 to 10 months. In addition to the equity obtained between the queues of the specialties, reduction of costs with materials, consultations, and preoperative examinations, there are also estimated cost savings. In this context, Heijunka has advantages related to the leveling of surgical production, greater equity in resolution times, and serves as a tool for planning the distribution of operating rooms.