Lean office in health organization in the Brazilian Army

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present management techniques in the healthcare sector through lean office. Design/methodology/approach – A case study approach is adopted, with data collected in the Brazilian military organization. Findings – The findings identify several ways to apply lean concepts outside manufacturing. From this, a future lean office health state design will be proposed. Research limitations/implications – The lean office health proposal has to be tested in other organizations to confirm this case study. While this may limit the generalization of the findings, there is value in demonstrating the benefits modern lean office techniques can bring to the developing world healthcare. Practical implications – The paper shows that lean office health techniques can provide benefits to healthcare in developing countries' hospitals and others. Originality/value – The value of the paper arises from providing a detailed analysis of a healthcare lean office in the developing world. There have been only a small number of other studies published in the literature about lean office health.