Cases On Lean Thinking Applications In Unconventional Systems

Lean thinking involves more than just eliminating waste; through its five guiding principles—value, value chain, continuous flow, pull production, and perfection—its successful applications are commonly found in the manufacturing sector. Although its application and benefits to companies is no longer contested, it is rare to find works that consolidate applications of lean thinking in sectors that are unconventional, such as healthcare and government. Cases on Lean Thinking Applications in Unconventional Systems allows readers to broaden their view on lean thinking applications and visualize insights for research. It presents case studies and applications of lean thinking within several different industries. Covering topics such as emergency care units, standardized work, and national humanization policy, this case book is an essential resource for engineers, hospital administrators, healthcare professionals, IT managers, government officials, students and faculty of higher education, researchers, and academicians.

There is significant debate regarding the quality of the national health system of the United States relative to those of other countries. The U.S. healthcare system has been heavily criticized as a highly inefficient, disorganized, fragmented, and under-resourced primary care system that contributes to high healthcare costs, high rates of uninsured individuals, and a number of health problems in comparison to the situation in other Western nations. Further, the United States is currently the only wealthy industrialized country that has not achieved universal health coverage. Together, these reasons help explain why important health indicators have been deteriorating recently. Assessing the Need for a Comprehensive National Health System in the United States seeks to thoroughly examine several key aspects related to the U.S. health system and presents different perspectives, provides facts and data-based assessment, and offers alternative strategies, policies, and realistic options towards a better and healthier U.S. society. Covering key topics such as telehealth, social justice, and healthcare workers, this reference work is ideal for health professionals, nurses, government officials, policymakers, researchers, scholars, practitioners, instructors, and students.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of health data, technology, and access to health informatics. The applications of several information technologies in the context of healthcare are proving instrumental in pandemic control. These technologies were already actively used in the healthcare sector before the pandemic. However, the pandemic has resulted in researchers reassessing how these technologies could have better assisted with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and how they may mitigate the threat of future pandemics. Health Informatics and Patient Safety in Times of Crisis provides a fresh perspective on how healthcare informatics has managed the current pandemic and how improved healthcare informatics could help in a future crisis. Covering topics such as digital public health, misinformation, and knowledge management, this premier reference source is an indispensable resource for medical professionals, hospital administrators, public health officials, community leaders, international leaders, libraries, medical students, medical professors, researchers, and academicians.

Over the years, the complexity of health systems has grown due to the continuous and constant introduction of new technologies—process, production, and organizational—which have increased the number of stakeholders involved, creating new relationships and new channels through which the various subjects interact. It is necessary to highlight the critical issues and opportunities relating to the innovation of the organization and governance of health services as well as the complementarity of management and leadership. The new health needs require a Copernican revolution in the organization of services: not only offering individual services but also effective permanent care of the patient within institutional and professional assistance networks and effective, efficient, and appropriate pathways. This requires that on an organizational and managerial level, the internal relationships between the branches of the healthcare companies must be reviewed and closer relationships built with the managing bodies of the social and welfare services. The Handbook of Research on Complexities, Management, and Governance in Healthcare proceeds with a reasoned reconstruction of healthcare issues through the problems connected to the complexities, management, and governance in healthcare in light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. It discusses both the ethical side of health and the economic, organizational, and legal content. Covering topics such as healthcare innovation, taxation for public health, and waste disposal, this major reference work is a comprehensive resource for healthcare administration, directors, executive boards, lawyers, sociologists, government officials and policymakers, students and faculty of higher education, libraries, researchers, and academicians.

Bioinspiration is recognized by the World Health Organization as having great promise in transforming and democratizing health systems while improving the quality, safety, and efficiency of standard healthcare in order to offer patients the tremendous opportunity to take charge of their own health. This phenomenon can enable great medical breakthroughs by helping healthcare providers improve patient care, make accurate diagnoses, optimize treatment protocols, and more. Unfortunately, the consequences can be serious if those who finance, design, regulate, or use artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for health do not prioritize ethical principles and obligations in terms of human rights and preservation of the private life. Advanced Bioinspiration Methods for Healthcare Standards, Policies, and Reform is the fruit of the fusion of AI and medicine, which brings together the latest empirical research findings in the areas of AI, bioinspiration, law, ethics, and medicine. It assists professionals in optimizing the potential benefits of AI models and bioinspired algorithms in health issues while mitigating potential dangers by examining the complex issues and innovative solutions that are linked to healthcare standards, policies, and reform. Covering topics such as genetic algorithms, health surveillance cameras, and hybrid classification algorithms, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for AI specialists, hospital administrators, health professionals, healthcare scientists, students and educators of higher education, government officials, researchers, and academicians.

Within the past decade, we have witnessed an increased adoption of emerging technologies as well as the exponential pace of scientific discoveries within all industries. The level of digital innovation and digital transformation experienced in healthcare and life sciences has been markedly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a new sense of urgency to design and develop a new global health ecosystem that is more suitable for the digital era and future generations. Deploying precision medicine solutions that can redefine the way we diagnose and treat disease, as well as shift the focus towards a customized human-centered approach, such as those offered by personalized medicine, can be a viable sustainable model. Digital Identity in the New Era of Personalized Medicine highlights the latest trends in precision medicine and the important role digital identity plays in upholding ethical values, safeguarding human rights, and practicing responsible personalized medicine. It provides an overview of the current healthcare legal and regulatory landscapes as well as some of the major challenges and opportunities we face in this digital, virtual, and precision medicine-powered era. Covering topics such as data-centric compliance, global health, and identity management, this book is an essential resource for doctors, healthcare administration, academicians, clinicians, health and bio-tech executives, researchers, medical professionals, medical engineers, medical students, and government officials looking for a resource that addresses challenges in healthcare including trust, privacy, data integrity, and ownership.

Lean Systems: Applications and Case Studies in Manufacturing, Service, and Healthcare details the various Lean techniques and numerous real-world Lean projects drawn from a wide variety of manufacturing, healthcare, and service processes, demonstrating how to apply the Lean philosophy. The book facilitates Lean instruction by supplying interactive case studies that enable readers to apply the various Lean techniques. It provides an in-depth discussion of the Lean tools (i.e., VSM, standard work, 5S, etc.) and several real-world case studies and applications of Lean that have shown significant improvement in meeting customer requirements. The case studies follow the Six Sigma framework of Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) structure for process improvement. The authors include detailed descriptions of each Lean tool and examples of how each Lean technique was applied to a wide variety of manufacturing, service, and healthcare processes. These in-depth descriptions and cases studies can be used by industry professionals and academics to learn how to apply Lean. They provide a detailed, step-by-step approach to Lean and demonstrate how to integrate Lean tools for process improvement and to sustain improvements. But more than this, the approach taken in this book gives readers the tools to effectively apply Lean techniques.

Process innovations - an improved way of doing things – help firms achieve higher-level performance by reducing the time and cost to produce a product or perform a service, and increasing productivity and growth. This book provides a comprehensive examination of process innovations occurring in the global fashion industry, with a focus on fashion brands from USA, Italy, and Japan. It offers practical insights for enhancing efficiency in the supply chain as well as management process such as work routines, information flow, and organization structures. Using case analyses, this book will help readers to grasp how successful fashion companies optimize their operations and advance their competitive position by integrating process innovations into their supply chain and management systems.