An adaptation of the SAE J4000/2021 standard for assessing lean maturity in Brazilian hospitals

PurposeThis study aims to validate a model to assess the level of lean maturity of Brazilian hospitals based on the adaptation of the SAE J4000/2021 standard.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology was divided: (1) adaptation of the standard to the health context, (2) application of the questionnaire through a survey, and (3) comparison of the results of the level of maturity in the standard and by the clustering technique, using Minitab.FindingsThe research presents two contributions: (1) validation of a model to assess the level of lean maturity based on the SAE J4000/2021; (2) insights into the level of maturity of Brazilian hospitals. It was observed that only 10% of the sample was classified at maturity level 3 and 75% at level 2. Private and large hospitals showed greater maturity compared to the others.Research limitations/implicationsThis includes the limited number of hospitals that participated in the survey, given the difficulty of adherence to due constraints of time and staffing from hospitals, during the COVID-19 pandemic.Practical implicationsThis article presents a lean maturity assessment proposal, adapting a consolidated standard in the automobile industry to the health context. Insights on the lean maturity of Brazilian hospitals can contribute to the development of policies to encourage the implementation of the lean philosophy directed to each specific environment.Social implicationsThis study serves as a guide for public agents interested in monitoring the quality of hospital indicators through the SAE J4000/2021 standard. From this lean maturity analysis, hospital managers can understand their opportunities for improvement in both human and organizational aspects. This favors the improvement of service delivery to society that depends on health services.Originality/valueDue to the lack of research that validates lean maturity level assessment models in Brazilian hospitals, this study can be considered a pioneer in this Brazilian research by validating the SAE J4000/2021 standard in its updated version in the health context.