An axiomatic design-based approach for the patient-value-oriented design of a sustainable Lean healthcare system

The global healthcare expenditures have grown steadily in the last decades. However, this spending is not reflected in significant healthcare improvements due to obvious inefficiencies in processes and resource consumption. To stop and reverse this unhealthy trend, a completely new approach is needed to sustainably improve healthcare services in terms of costs, response times, service quality, and resource utilisation. To address this, an integrated target system was developed and top-down decomposed using the axiomatic design method in order to comprehensively redesign healthcare organisation starting from a strict patient value focus. This methodology was chosen because it provides a systematic mapping procedure for the design of large and complex systems. The mapping was accomplished within a regional health system, involving healthcare experts from the medical, nursing and administrative areas. Results prove that the method yields a clear system view and is useful when it comes to systematically improving healthcare operational processes.