Exploring lean healthcare practice and supply chain innovation for Malaysian healthcare industry

Lean and supply chain are two quality practices which are the most effective business improvement techniques that focus on continuous improvement process. They are adopted to improve business process, reduce waste, reduce defects, reduce cycle times, fast delivery at the minimal cost and accelerate the process in identifying the best solution practices for ensuring excellence in operational and service management. The purpose of this study is to explore lean healthcare practice adopted by Malaysian healthcare industry and the relationship between lean healthcare practices and supply chain innovation performance. Four dimensions of lean healthcare practice (leadership, employee involvement, organisational culture, customer focus) were determined to have a significant and positive direct relationship with supply chain innovation performance efforts. Furthermore, through this analysis, a structural relationship model using structural equation modelling (SEM) has been proposed. The research hypotheses are being developed based on the proposed conceptual model and reviewed. Finally, the paper study culminates with suggested future research work.