Dentistry Commons^™

Improving A Dental School's Clinic Operations Using Lean Process Improvement, Fonda G. Robinson, Larry L. Cunningham, Sharon P. Turner, John E. Lindroth, Deborah Ray, Talib Khan, Audrey Yates

Oral Health Practice Faculty Publications

The term "lean production," also known as "Lean," describes a process of operations management pioneered at the Toyota Motor Company that contributed significantly to the success of the company. Although developed by Toyota, the Lean process has been implemented at many other organizations, including those in health care, and should be considered by dental schools in evaluating their clinical operations. Lean combines engineering principles with operations management and improvement tools to optimize business and operating processes. One of the core concepts is relentless elimination of waste (non-value-added components of a process). Another key concept is utilization of individuals closest to …