Application of lean Management Principles in Hospitals in Slovakia

Introduction: Healthcare worldwide is struggling with many problems that have been escalated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the military conflict in Ukraine. The gap between the possibilities and the needs in the provision of health services is opening more and more. Therefore, it is necessary to look for ways to streamline processes at the level of the hospitals themselves and their management. Research aim and objectives: The aim of the research was to examine the mutual connections between the use of lean management principles and the ratings of hospitals in the Slovak Republic and to identify the influence of external and internal factors in this relationship. The sample consisted of 175 managers from 35 hospitals. Methods: To verify the hypotheses, the SEM method was used in the Smart Pls 3.3 software at a significance level of 0.05. Results: We discovered that there is a statistically significant connection between the use of lean principles and hospital ratings. If other variables enter the model, the overall effect of the mentioned variables is significantly increased. The stakeholder demands variable has a significant mediating effect (β = 0.470; p=0.000). The social lean climate variable has a lower indirect effect in the Slovak environment (β = 0.291; p=0.000). Conclusion: Our research shows the unequivocal importance of applying the principles of lean management in healthcare. There is ever-increasing pressure to increase quality and improve process efficiency from various stakeholders as well as pressure from within hospitals.