Lean manufacturing application in health sector: A case study of a state hospital in Tokat province

While there has been held in lean manufacturing practices in the health sector in the literature, the number of studies dealing with this issue in Turkey is less. Lean production is based on the philosophy of eliminating waste in the system and focusing on the concept of value and seeking to reach the most efficient production method. The field of application of lean manufacturing is not only limited to the manufacturing sector, but has also been used extensively by the service sector for efficiency improvement. In this thesis, a lean manufacturing philosophy can be applied in the service sector. Diagnosis, treatment or other services in hospitals should be performed as soon as possible and the results should be delivered to the patients in the most accurate way. However, as in other sectors, there are delays in the health sector due to activities that do not add value. Determining which processes in hospitals do not contribute to the service sector will be an advantage in order to prevent waste of resources and time. The main purpose of this study is to make suggestions for providing more effective and faster health care services by using lean production system methods in the light of the information obtained from Niksar State Hospital Department of Internal Medicine / outpatient clinic. The activities that do not add value in hospitals and the value stream maps aimed at eliminating these activities are provided by using the findings and recommendations.