Modelling of the factors affecting lean implementation in healthcare using structural equation modelling

Lean is a quality enhancement process which has been implemented by several industries including healthcare to get leverage in this era of globalization and liberalization. The objective of present work is to identify the variables affecting implementation of lean principles in healthcare industry. To achieve this objective, a survey was conducted by using a structured questionnaire which was distributed among 460 health professionals in different hospitals in India to collect their responses about lean applications in healthcare. EFA was applied to identify the factor structure with the help of the SPSS software version 20 and dimensions were extracted from the variables. After that, CFA was carried out by SEM statistical approach to verify these dimensions in the factor analysis by AMOS software. Fifteen variables were explored and three factors i.e. organizational factors, management commitment and communication and human resource factors were extracted which affect lean application in healthcare. SEM was used to identify first order three factor structure. The managers and healthcare professionals can acquire information about the strength of various factors in advance which would help them to thoroughly understand the relative importance, interdependencies and relationships among these factors so that lean principles can be applied successfully in the organization.